For Good or Ill
by RainboWTF
Summary: Treiy Keel escapes the vault with a heavy heart, and goes to search for her father. But she finds something else instead. F!LWXCharon
1. Chapter 1

**The Fallout universe belongs to Bethesda.**

* * *

Chapter 1

The light was blinding, searing her eyes. She cringed, and turned away, holding her hands over her them as they slowly adjusted.

She finally turned, blinking away the tears that had sprung up.

As her eyes scanned the horizon, she felt her heart beat faster. Her throat dried, and she shook her head.

There was nothing. Just crumpled buildings and shriveled trees.

The tears started coming again. "Dad..." She whispered. She would never be able to find him, not in this mess.

For a second she contemplated going back to the Vault, then remembered the whole reason she was outside.

She sunk to the ground and put her head in her hands.

* * *

It was a long walk, and her legs were burning by time she stood in front of the building she had seen in the distance. It did have what looked like a gate, so maybe it was a town?

"Welcome to Megaton. Friendliest town around."

She smiled at the robot, even though she still felt terrible.

As she entered what she hoped was a town, and a man greeted her.

He looked her up and down, and shook his head in disbelief,"Well, damn. Haven't seen one of them vault suits in a while. Lucas Simms." He offered his hand.

"I'm Treiy Keel." She said as she took his dark and weathered hand, hers pale and flawless in comparison."I'm looking for my dad. He's tall, gray hair, he's a doctor, he has a pip-boy on his arm-"

The man shook his head when he realized she would probably stand there all day describing her old man.

"Sorry, kid. Haven't seen him, but you may want to talk to Moriarity. He owns the saloon." He said, gesturing to a building farther up.

"Thank you." Treiy said in a quite voice, trying to hide the disappointment she felt.

She heads over quickly, and realizes how sore and tired she is as she enters the building.

Her eyes widened as she saw the creature standing behind the bar. He looked human, but his skin was patchy, revealing hard muscles, and his hair didn't look any better.

He looked up at her. When he noticed her expression he sighed and turned back to cleaning the table.

She stepped up to him, swallowing her fear and gave him a nervous smile,"Hello. Are you Moriarity?"

He shook his head, a small chuckle escaping from his throat,"No, I'm Gob. Moriarity's in the back room."

She nodded and extended her hand,"I'm Treiy. It's nice to meet you, Gob."

He raised what was left of an eyebrow and shook her hand,"I'll go get him for ya."

"Thank you." She said as he walked away, opening a back door and stepping inside.

She looked down at the table, her blonde hair falling in her face. She was about to fix the bun when she heard a voice behind her.

"Well, aren't you a pretty one." She turned to find a woman with short red hair looking her over.

Treiy wrung her wrists and tried for a nervous smile,"Oh, hello."

"What are you doin' here kid? Bit young to be hangin' out in a bar." The woman had a hand on her hip, and was staring at Treiy inquisitively.

"Well, I needed to ask Moriarity some questions about my dad." The woman nodded,"Well, I'm Nova. Be careful around Moriarity, he's an ass."

Treiy nodded, and whispered a thank you as Gob came back to the table, a man with slicked back blond hair following behind.

"It's you, isn't it? James' little girl? Come back to find him, haven't you?" Treiy nodded,"Please, do you know where he is?"

"Ya, but it'll cost ya." Her face fell, and she sighed,"I don't have any money."

He paused, and looked as though he was contemplating something,"Well, there is one thing you can do for me. A woman named Silver used to work for me. The bitch took my caps and left for Springvalle. Heard she set up a house there. I want you to go there and...take care of her."

Treiy's eyes widened a fraction. She wasn't going to do it, but she didn't really know what to say,"I-I'll think about it."

Moriarity shrugged,"Think about it fast, girl. Your father doesn't have an eternity."

Moriarity left for the back room again, and she sighed. Treiy had no idea how she was going to go about this. She couldn't 'take care' of anybody, and she didn't bring any money from the Vault.

Gob looked over at her from his work, and when Treiy caught his eyes she had an idea. "Gob, do you know anything about my Dad?"

He froze for a second, then shook his head quickly,"No, sorry."

Treiy could tell he was hiding something,"Gob, please. I need to know, and I don't have the money, and I'm not 'taking care' of anyone. _Please._"

The ghoul sighed,"I like you, so I'll tell you this: Moriarity keeps tabs on everyone that comes through his bar. If your dad was really here, then you'll find info on him on Moriarity's terminal."

She sighed, and flashed him a smile,"Thank you, Gob."

He nodded,"Just don't get caught, kid" He said it under his breath, but Treiy still heard.

She moved into a corner, and watched as Moriarity stepped out of the room, had a quick and none to kind, conversation with Gob, then stepped out of the saloon.

Treiy waited another minute before quickly heading into the back room. There was a chair with a glowing terminal set in the wall in front of it.

She plopped down in the chair and leaned forward, working away at the terminal. It was frutrating, but she figured it out after a minute.

She froze as footsteps echoed outside the door. She let out the breath she had been holding as whoever it was stepped away.

She scanned through the terminal's contents, and quickly found the part about her dad.

_GNR. _She frowned. She had never heard of it, but the terminal said it was somewhere in D.C.

"_You_! What are you doin' on that terminal." She felt a hand grab her arm and yank her out of the seat roughly. She gasped, and looked up into the enraged face of Colin Moriarity.

"Let me go." She said, almost gagging at the smell of cigarettes and alcohol coming off of him. She pushed herself away from him and pulled open the door, stumbling out.

Gob looked over, surprised as Moriarity went to grab her again. He looked up, realized that everyone was looking their way, and straightened himself out.

He glared at her and hissed between his teeth,"Get out of my bar. _Now_."

Gob looked over at her incredulously and she smiled, trying to let him know that she was successful. He nodded, and watched her as she left the bar.


	2. Chapter 2

**Once again, the Fallout universe belongs to Bethesda.** **Enjoy.**

* * *

Treiy frowned, checking her pip-boy for the third time. She was sure she had been going the right way, but the little green map said otherwise.

She checked her location again before sitting down and leaning her back against a rock.

Treiy scowled, setting her pack down beside her and rummaging through it.

She pulled out a bottle of clean water and took a sip, looking up and staring at the monument in the distance.

She knew that was her destination, but a man she had met on the way had told her she would need to go through a metro tunnel first.

She didn't like the idea of that, but if it got her closer to her dad, she would do it.

* * *

Treiy rubs her arm nervously, looking from the area behind her to the gate. She danced from foot to foot, working up the courage to go down there. Just looking at it gave her the creeps, and for the sake of procrastination she checked her pip-boy again, even though she had already check it several times.

"Well. This is it." Treiy says, even though there was no one around to hear her as she entered the tunnel.

The smell is what hit her first, and she gags. It smells like something has been rotting down in the dark, dank tunnel for years.

As she rounds a corner she freezes, and takes a small step back behind the wall. She crouches on her knees and peekes around the corner.

The creature let out a growl as it looked up, and she could hear it sniffing furiously. She could tell that whatever it was had been human once. It was hunched over and emaciated, it's ribs sticking out in an almost unnatural way. She catches sight of milky white eyes.

Treiy shifts, but falls forward instead and lets out a yelp. Her pistol clatters to the ground and the creature looks up, a low growl emanating from it.

It lurches forward, and lets out a shriek as it closes in. She can hear more of the terrible creatures as they respond to this one's shriek and scuttles back. Her heart beating fast, and blood pumping in her ears.

She quickly grabs the pistol from the ground and raises it. Her hands are shaking, and she closes her eyes as she pulls the trigger.

The creature falls, it's body sprawled over her's. She rolls it off of her and pulls herself up on her hands and knees, and everything she had eaten earlier in the day comes back up.

She's shaking as she wipes her mouth on the sleeve of her vault suit. She looks over at the creature, and feels relieved when it doesn't move.

She pushes herself up off the ground and nudges it with her foot. It's still. She sighs, and continues on.

* * *

When she finally exits the metro tunnel, blood staining her suit and a cut on her forearm, everything is quite. She frowns as she walks, her eyes narrowed and her pistol raised, even though fighting through the creatures left it empty.

She freezes as cries of 'TIME TO DIE', and 'FOUND YOU' echo through the broken buildings, and she catches sight of something. She sprints over and presses the button on it furiously, then slips inside when the door opens.

The door closes, and she's left with her thoughts and a skeleton on the floor. She looks down at it, and can't help but think,_I wonder who they used to be? _She shakes the thought from her head.

She can hear shots being fired, and insults being traded from each side of the battle.

The sounds of gunfire slowly subside, and she can hear footsteps getting closer and closer to her hiding place. She freezes, and treis to huddle as close to the bottom as possible. The slides open and sunlight hits her face.

"Quick thinking, kid. You probably just would have gotten yourself killed by a mutie if you had stayed out." Treiy looks up at the blond, who steps aside so she can get out.

"Mutie?" The woman cocks an eyebrow,"What, have you been living under a rock all these years?"

Treiy looks down shyly at her feet, realizing that living in a Vault was basically the same thing as living under a rock. The woman sighs,"I'm Sarah Lyons, of Lyons' Pride."

When no hint of recognition crosses Treiy's face, Sarah sighs,"Of the Brotherhood of Steel?"

Treiy blushes,"I-I'm sorry. I d-don't really know that much..." She trails off, not entirely sure how to go on. Sarah shakes her head,"Oh well, you'll learn on the way. We're heading to GNR, you can tag along if you're able."

Treiy's face lights up,"That's exactly where I need to go!" Sarah smirks,"I'd kill to have your enthusiasm. How old are you anyway?" They've started walking, and Treiy can't help but look down worriedly at the armored corpse of a man.

"19." Sarah looks over at her, an eyebrow raised in a curious manner,"Really? You look younger." Treiy nods,"I get that a lot." It was true. The poor girl was often mistaken to be a few years younger. She was about 5"6', weighed 100 lbs, and had the curious, cheery personality of a child.

The two can hear shots being fire again as they round the corner, and Treiy freezes in place at the sight in front of her.

Much like the creatures in the metro, whatever this was had been human once. It's skin was green,it was absurdly tall, and it's teeth were bared like an animal as it took shot after shot from one of the armored men in front of it.

It finally falls, and one of them turns to look at Treiy,"Who have you got with you?" Sarah notices how the young girl is still frozen in place and places a hand reassuringly on her shoulder,"A kid I found hiding in one of those personal bomb shelters." She looks back down at her,"Wait, I forgot to get your name."

Treiy was barely paying attention, her eyes still glued to the creature's corpse. She looks up at Sarah,"W-What?"

"Your name, kid." One of the others chuckles,"Give her a minute. First time you've seen a mutie?" Treiy barely manages a nod,"I'm Treiy. Treiy Keel."

Sarah moves back in front of her,"Alright, kid. You any good with that pistol?" Treiy shrugged,"It's empty."

Sarah mutters,"I don't know how you survived this long" under her breath before changing her tone. "Alright, Lyons' Pride, move out!"

All of them moved forward in a group, and they quickly came up to what might have been a school. A rusted playground sat in the dead grass, and it seemed almost friendly up until the a super mutant charged out of the building, firing on the group. Two more came out after it, and Treiy scrambled to hide behind a car.

Treiy feels a rough hand grab her by the back of her vault suit, and pulls her out of cover just as the car explodes.

She lets out a yelp, and looks up at Sarah,"Close call, kid. You good?"

Treiy nods halfheartedly, but her heart is pounding and her throat is dry. Yet another instance when she was so close to death. She nods again, this time more sure of herself and pushes herself up off the ground.

"Ya, I'm alright." Sarah calls to the rest of her group to reload and head out, then turns to Treiy,"We're almost there. GNR's just past this building."

Treiy sighs, and as the group moves through the building, taking out super mutants left and right. Sarah looks down at her,"Why do you need to get to GNR anyway?"

She rubs her arm nervously as they come up to a plaza, and the Pride takes out the rest of the enemy,"I've been looking for my Dad. I learned that he came here to speak to Three-Dog, the guy on the radio."

The group seems to be relaxing, and one of them send a girl named Reddin to scout the perimeter.

Sarah opens her mouth to speak, but a large rumble interrupts her. "What the hell?" She mutters, looking over to the source of the sound.

"Reddin, get out of there!" Is the last thing she hears before the Earth shakes again, and a nearby bus explodes, sending Reddin's body across the plaza. "Behemoth!"

The creature looks like a super mutant, but is an almost unimaginable size, and Treiy wouldn't have believed such a thing could have existed until now.

Sarah looks over as the Pride shoots at the Behemoth and yells to her,"Get that fatman!"

Treiy scrambles from her hiding place, blood pounding in her ears as she sprints to the body of one of the Brotherhood in the plaza's fountain. She rolls him over, grimacing as she pulls the weapon out from under him.

She's surprised to see miniature nukes as the ammo when she loads it. She aims the weapon at the creature and freezes up. _Oh god, oh god, oh god._

Sarah looks over at her and yells,"Just shoot it!" Treiy closes her eyes and pulls on the trigger.

She's thrown back by the recoil, and the Behemoth lets out a roar as the bomb makes contact. The wind had been knocked out of her, and she's lying on her back trying to catch her breath as someone takes her hand and pulls her up to her feet.

Sarah smiles and claps her on the back,"Good job, kid. Didn't think you'd shoot for a second there."

"I didn't think I would either." Treiy says with a nervous chuckle, which dies almost immediately as the two pass one of the soldiers kneeling over Reddin's body.

He's taken off her helmet, and Treiy can see that she was only a few years older then herself.

Sarah leads her up the steps and motions to the intercom,"They should let you in now." She looks back at the soldier and sighs,"I'm going to go talk to Vargas."

Treiy nods and presses the small, black button on the intercom,"Um, hello? I-I'd like to talk to Three-Dog."

There's a pause, then a voice comes through,"Looks clear. Unlocking the door now."

There was a click from the intercom, and Treiy was glad to find the door unlocked. She slips in, and someone beside her says,"Nice shot, kid!"

Treiy smiles shyly,"Thanks. Where's Three-Dog?"

He motions to the second floor of the building,"Go up there, and there should be a door with a staircase behind it. He'll be right up there."

She thanks him quickly before starting up the steps, and realizes how tired she was. She's practically dead on her feet, and her legs are sore. She massages her shoulder, wincing as she finds the place she hit on the concrete after being thrown back by the Fat Man.

* * *

As she reaches the top of the stairs she calls out in a small voice,"Dad?" She can hear footsteps, and her heart begins to beat faster as she prepares herself for a reunion.

"The look on your face says it all," She looks up to the man that stands in front of her, his voice familiar. "You're wondering who this guy is, and why you should care. Well, prepare to be enlightened! I'm Three Dog, jockey of disks and teller of truths! Lord and master of the finest radio station to grace the wastes-Galaxy News Radio."

Her eyes widen a fraction,"Is my dad here? Please tell me." He shakes his head,"Sorry, kid. He came and left."

"Oh." Her face falls, and she finds herself staring down at her feet. She can't help but notice how dirty her vault suit is, and how she needs to find something better."Do you know where he went?"

Three-Dog nods,"I do, but you need to do something for me. You see, some super mutant thought it'd be a good idea to shoot the big shiny thing at the top of the Washington Monument. That shiny thing was the communication relay dish for GNR, so anything as far as Megaton is static."

"Let me guess. You need me to fix it." Treiy says apprehensively. He nods, a smile creeping onto his face,"Exactly. You can find another one in the Museum of Technology, on the old Virgo II Lunar Lander."

She sighs, her face downcast,"Alright, but I need someplace to rest." He nods,"There are some bunks downstairs that the Brotherhood uses."

She steps back quickly, but you can still see the disappointment on her face as she heads back down the stairs. Of course, she still has to get directions to where the Brotherhood sleeps.

She picks out a cot and lays down. She can barely keep her eyes open, but all she can think about is how close she was to finding James. She finally lets sleep take her, and her dreams are filled with super mutants and feral ghouls, and each one looks sickeningly like her father.

* * *

**I hated how much of a -excuse my french- bitch Sarah Lyons was in the game up until the end. So she's nicer in this.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Two chapters is one day? You all must be wondering what I do with my life. It's summertime so, therefore, I have no life. Too bad school starts in a couple weeks.  
**

**As usual, the Fallout universe belongs to Bethesda. Enjoy.  
**

* * *

Treiy sighs, her pistol raised as she crouches. She was having a hard time finding the Museum of Technology, and she was resorting to checking her pip-boy constantly. She'd been sneaking past super mutants rather then fighting her way through the Mall, seeing as she was almost out of bullets.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the cry of 'FOUND YOU' behind her. She turns, and fires off a shot at the hulking super mutant. It lets out a roar and swings the wooden board in it's meaty hand.

She jumps away, landing badly on her side and rolling over onto her back. She groaned, pain blossoming through her already bruised shoulder. The super mutant laughs, says something unintelligible, and grabs for her.

Treiy is splattered with gray matter as the super mutant's head explodes. Her breathing quickens, and she looks down at herself. Bits of blood and skull dott her vault suit, and she starts to desperately try to wipe it off.

"Damn, tourist. You okay?" The raspy voice of a ghoul brings her out of her small panic attack, and she looks up at the woman. "I-I think."

The ghoul shoulders her rifle and offers her hand, which Treiy takes gladly. The ghoul hauls her to her feet,"What are doing at Underworld, tourist?"

"Y-you mean this isn't the M-Museum of Technology?" The ghoul raises whats left of an eyebrow,"No. Sorry, tourist." She eyes Treiy's shoulder,"You may want to get that checked out by Doctor Barrows."

She pauses, probably realizing that Treiy isn't exactly the kind of person you want to leave alone, and sighs,"Come on, I'll bring you there." Treiy gives her a small smile,"T-Thanks."

The ghoul leads her through the double doors and into a large area of the building. Her eyes widen a she takes in the large dinosaur skeleton,"I'm Willow, by the way." The ghoul rasps, distracting her,

"I'm Treiy. Are there other ghouls down here?" Willow looks at her in surprise,"Tourist, the only people down here **are** ghouls." She says as she opens the next set of doors.

There's a statue in the middle that gives Treiy the creeps, and as she look around she realizes that Willow is right. The ghoul leads her past the statue and through a back door.

Treiy yelps and stumbles back into Willow as she catches sight of the creature on her left. Willow lets out a curse, and Treiy hears a chuckle,"Don't worry, smoothskin. That feral is dead."

"Feral?" The ghoul looks at her in surprise,"Feral. As in feral ghoul?"

Treiy looks down shyly at her feet,"I-I don't r-really-"

He cuts her off,"Oh well. You can go now, Willow. I can handle this." Willow nods, and Treiy gives her a smile,"Thank you." The ghoul returns the smile,"Stay safe, tourist."

"Alright, what's the problem." She gestures to her shoulder,"I've hit it pretty bad a couple times, and it hurts like hell."

He nods and has her sit in a chair and gets to work quickly. He has her pull the shoulder of her Vault suit down, and his rough hands press against her shoulder in several places. She yelps, and he nods when he finishes his simple examination,"Alright. It's bruised, but not too bad. I'll wrap it up, and you just need to limit your use with it."

He wraps cloth from her forearm, then up near her collarbone. She pulls her suit back up, and hands him some of the caps she had scavenged during the few days she had been out in the wastes.

"Is there anywhere I can stay for the night?" He nods,"Upstairs is Carol's Place. Off with you, now. I have some research to do."

She wrung her wrists and nodded,"Okay, thank you." He waved at her dismissively, and she took this as a hint to find Carol's Place.

* * *

She hurried up the stairs, trying her best to ignore the whispers and stares from the ghouls that lounged around. They obviously didn't see humans in Underworld often.

She pushed open one of the doors and stepped inside. A tall, grumpy looking ghoul stood off in the corner, and his eyes almost immediately set on her.

She shivered under his glare, but built up her courage and stepped up to him,"Um, hello I-"

"Talk to Ahzrukhal." He rasps. She gives him her own stony look and says,"I just-"

He leans forward, his arms crossed,"I don't care."

Treiy sighs,"Fine." She glares at him before stepping back,"Lookee here, we got us a smoothskin I ain't never seen before. I am Ahzrukhal, and this is the 9th Circle. "

She turns, and the ghoul in front of her basically pushes her down onto a nearby bar stool,"Why don't you sit down and have drink, girl. What do you want?"

She wrings her wrists nervously,"Um, I'm sorry. I was actually looking for Carrol's Place."

His expression turns cold, his mouth set in a hard line before speaking again,"Why would you need to go there? Just sit here, have a drink."

She's caught off guard and merely sighs,"Alright, then. Can I have a Nuka-Cola?"

He nods,"Of course, girl." And turns to fish a bottle from the fridge behind him. When he comes back she hands him the caps, the pops the cap off the bottle. She stuffs it in her pocket and takes a sip.

"What's the deal with the ghoul? The one in the corner?"

He looks over at him, and the ghoul stares back with a loathing expression."That's Charon. Let's just say... well, he's a loyal employee. Don't mess with me, and he won't mess with you."

She frowns. The way he says it arouses her suspicions, and she can't help but ask,"What exactly do you mean?"

"I hold his contract, which makes me his employer. He will do anything I ask." He pauses, a though thinking, then continues,"You see, Charon grew up around a very interested group of individuals. They...well, I guess you could say that they brainwashed him."

Treiy's eyes widen a fraction,_That's terrible. Who could do something like that?_

"So...he's like a slave?" Ahzrukhal shakes his head adamantly, putting an almost appalled-and absolutely fake- expression on his face,"Of course not! Charon is certainly not a slave."

She can tell that even if Charon was a slave, Ahzrukhal would own him either way. She looks back at the ghoul, and can tell that he's at least a little curious about their conversation.

She turns back to Ahzrukhal,"I want to talk to you about his contract."

"Oh yes?" He says, leaning forward as though to listen to her better,"And what would you like to talk about?"

"I want his contract, and I'd like to make a deal." He chuckles,"Sure, but I don't think you'll want to hear what I have in mind. You see, I don't like competition. There's another source of booze here in Underworld, Greta. I want you to...take care of her. You'd need to do it quietly though, something discreet."

She shakes her head,"No." He shrugs,"2,000 caps, then."

Treiy grimaces, and can't help but look back at Charon. She sighs, then begins rummaging through pack, pulling out a pouch,"There should be 2,000 caps in there."

He nods, and she frowns in disgust at the greedy smile creeping onto his face as he grabs the pouch and sets it under the counter. He reaches into his shirt pocket and brings out a piece of paper, handing it to her,"I'll let you tell him yourself."

"Thank you." Treiy says, and doesn't try to hide the disgust in her voice as she backs away from the counter, leaving her drink and walking over to Charon.

"Talk to-"

"I have good news," She says before he can dismiss her, and tries for a smile, "I'm your new employer." He looks at her, and she can't tell what he's feeling. His face is as emotionless as a plank of wood.

"You are? That is good to know. Please, wait here. I have to take care of something," he says quietly. She nods. He makes his way over to Ahzrukhal.

"What's wrong, Charon? Come to say goodbye?" he asks, a smile plastered on his face.

"Yes," Charon says, pulling his shotgun off of his back. Treiy's eyes widen, and her hands fly to her mouth as Charon takes the shot. Her hands muffle her scream.

Ahzrukhal's body slumps over the counter, then slides to the ground, leaving behind a smear of blood.

"All right. Let's go," he says, making his way back to her. He notices the shocked look on her face,"Ahzrukhal was an evil bastard. So long as he held my contract, I could not touch him. Seeing as you are my new employer, I was free to take care of him."

Treiy shakes her head,"Y-You didn't h-have to k-kill him!" He seems almost amused by her stutter, but wipes away the emotion from his face before repeating,"He was an evil bastard."

He walks past her an out into the hall,"Okay." She says quietly as she follows him out.


	4. Chapter 4

**As usual, the Fallout universe belongs to Bethesda. Enjoy.**

**((Can someone please tell me if I have to keep doing that? I'm just terribly afraid of copywrite infringement.))  
**

* * *

The pair sat across from each other, plates of untouched food on the table between them.

Charon coughs,"You should probably eat. You will need your strength if you are going to the Museum of Technology."

She had told him her plans the night before, after the huge disappointment regarding his contract.

She had purchased a room from Carol. They had pulled up a cot for Charon, and the two had been preparing for bed when she had asked him,"Is there any way I can free you?" He had seemed surprise, but only for a second before setting his face to his usual stony expression.

"I am afraid that it does not work that way."

Her face had become downcast, and he had put a hand on her shoulder,"Sorry, kid."

She had wanted to tell him that she was so sorry about what had been done to him, and that she had only purchased his contract to help him.

He wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault, the look on her face had shown him how terrible she felt about it.

* * *

And now they were here, with nothing but unspoken words between them. She sighs and stands,"I'm going to go pack up my gear. You can stay and finish eating."

She finds herself back on the bed she had rented, rummaging through her pack. She feels the soft, worn fabric of her vault suit and pulls it out. It's ripped, and the 1-0-1 has begun to fall off.

She presses it to her face, and find herself in tears as she realizes that it no longer smells like home.

Sobs wrack her body, and she's sure that her crying is drawing attention but she doesn't care. All she can think about is all the people she's left behind. Amata, Freddie, and yes, even Butch. She finds herself missing the vault terribly, no matter how messed up the Overseer may have been. It was safe, and now she was forced to fight for her life to find a father that had left her behind.

She feels a hand on her shoulder and quickly wipes away her tears on her sleeve, even though she knows she can't hide her puffy eyes and red face.

"You okay, smoothskin?" Treiy looks up into Charon's slightly worried face and gives him a small smile,"Y-Ya, I'm fine."

Her voice is pitifully small, and he sees the pained expression on her face before she looks away again. He wants to help, but isn't sure how,"Well, we should be leaving soon if you are planning on getting to the museum before nightfall."

Treiy nods,"Right. "Let's go."

He nods, and the strange looking pair head out of Underworld.

* * *

Treiy is wincing as they find their way to the Museum of Technology. The pack wasn't heavy, but it still put pressure on her injured shoulder.

As Charon takes out the last super mutant in the lobby he turns to her,"I would be more then happy to carry the pack for you, ma'am."

Treiy shakes her head,"I've got it, and you can just call me Treiy." He pauses, giving her a strange look before speaking,"If that is what you wish."

"Wait." Treiy says, stopping at one of the museum terminals. For the rest of the way Charon takes out supermutants before Treiy can see them, and she stops at about every terminal she comes across.

They come across what appears to be a demonstration of a Vault, and Treiy takes a tentative step back. Her fingers dance across her Pip-Boy, and Charon can't help but notice her sudden meekness.

He sighs,"Is there a problem, Miss Treiy?"

"N-No. There isn't. I'm coming." She jogs up to his side, and frowns when he moves back a couple steps. _He walks behind me, like I'm better than him or something._

"Charon, we're equals. You can walk beside me." She gives him a wide smile. His face still has that stony expression,"If that is what you wish."

She frowns, and realizes that that is not enough. _Can't he see that he's not like a slave to me? That I'm not as bad as Ahzrukhal? Or am I?  
_

She was feeling terrible. Her shoulder hurt, her eyes were burning with tears that she was forced to hold back, and the fake vault brings so many memories.

Of course, the walls are rusted, and the windows are grimy, but it was still meant to look like a vault.

Treiy sidesteps to avoid a bloodstain on the floor, and almost bumps into him.

His arm still brushes an exposed patch of skin on her arm, and she hisses at the sudden pain. It's nothing like her shoulder, or the several cuts she has recieved. It's more of a burn.

Charon's head snaps in her direction,"Are you alright?" She nods,"I think. I'm just not sure what's wrong with my arm."

They're still in the vault as Charon takes her arm gently in his hands, and his fingers brush against the red, angry skin. "Sunburn." He murmurs.

"What's sunburn?" He looks up at her, and almost allows himself to appear surprised. He then remembers what she had told him, that she had been born in a vault. She wouldn't know a thing about sunburn. "When you are in the sun for a long time, the UV rays burn your skin. Therefore, sunburn."

She nods,"Oh. I get it." He sighs and pulls away before walking to the vault's exit,"You will be fine. Let us continue."

"Alright." She said, following close behind him as they finally left the demonstration vault. She lets out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

* * *

She can see that Charon is tense, and she doesn't blame him. The museum is scary to her in general, and she finds herself hesitating at every corner, afraid of what she might find if she keeps going.

They finally find themselves in a large room, with some kind of contraption in the middle. As Treiy approaches it, it powers up, and a voice echoes in the room.

"For as long as history has been recorded, man has had an insatiable desire for the stars."

Charon watches Treiy as she stands there, her face upturned, eyes wide, to stare at the stars that appear on the ceiling. She reaches up, seems to remember how high the ceiling is, and her hands fall limply at her sides. He can't help but notice her innocence, and wonders how long until that same innocence is beaten out of her, as he had seen done so many times during his long life.

He tenses up as rumbling footsteps reach what is left of his ears. He turns to Treiy and yells,"Get down!"

She pulls herself away from the stars that dot the ceiling in time to see a few supermutants charge through the doors. She raises her pistol and fires off shots, not even looking to see if she's hit anything.

She feels something hard push into her, knocking her to the floor. She fears the worst, that one of the supermutants had gotten past Charon, and had now reached her. _This is it. I'm going to die, and I'll never see my dad again_.

As she lays there, eyes shut and hands over her ears, she feels rough hands on her own, gently moving them from her ears,"It is safe now, Miss Treiy."

She lets Charon pull up and onto her feet,"T-Thanks, C-Charon." She cringes at her stutter. She had had it since she was little, and it would come out whenever she was scared or upset. It hadn't bothered her as much in the vault, but out here it bothered her to no end.

He nods and steps away, and she follows him as they head on through the museum.

* * *

Treiy looks up at the Virgo II Lunar Lander and steps forward, her hands working quickly to separate the dish from the lander.

Charon stands uneasily behind her, but is turned the other way as she works.

"Help me out with this." She says, and Charon does as she instructs. He takes her pack, and ties the dish to her back with a length of rope, like a harness.

"I can carry it, Miss Treiy. It would be of no burden to me." She quickly shakes her head, and he can't help but admire the effort she puts into carrying it. He can tell that she is strong, despite how she looks, but the dish is still quite heavy.

She notices the look of worry that slips onto his face and gives him a wide smile,"I've got it, Charon. How 'bout _you_ carry the heavy thing next time?" She extends her hand,"Deal?"

He keeps his face emotionless and merely nods, then steps in front of her and starts back through the halls.

Her face falls. She had believed that she was getting through to him. The look on his face as she gotten used to the extra weight on her back told her so. But, as she had shown him signs of friendship, he had blown her off.

She sighs and follows him out.

* * *

**Thanks for those few that have been following the story so far and have posted reviews. They help me, where they be good or bad. The good ones make me feel all warm inside. I don't know what to say about the bad ones, I guess I'll just call them constructive criticism for now.  
**

** I honestly plan on sticking to this story. I have a terribly short attention span, and that results in a lot of unfinished and deleted projects, but I'm going to make myself do this. Mostly because I'm loving it so far, and also because I'm hoping that you're loving it too. **

**And we should be seeing one of the most important characters in Fallout 3 very soon... Dogmeat! You can't have a good Fallout fanfic without him...or her. Is Dogmeat's gender official anywhere? I'm rambling.  
**

**-Thanks for reading  
**

**-Sylvie  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Treiy glares over at one of the Brotherhood as he smirked and insulted Charon under his breath. Another one steps up as they enter through the gate of the Washington Monument,"You can't bring that zombie in here, kid."

She stands up taller and crosses her arms, giving the Knight a defiant glare,"He's my bodygaurd. He's coming with me."

Charon smirks as the Knight hesitates, then allows them to pass. She's strong, in more ways then one.

He follows her into the elevator, and she's pulling restlessly at the rope that keeps the dish on her back.

When they finally reach the top she drops the dish on the ground and almost runs to the area where the wall has fallen out,"Look at this!" She yells, turning to Charon with a big smile on her face.

"We're so high up, nothing can reach us up here." She's leaning out, her blonde hair whipping around her head in the wind. She can't help but think that the world looks beautiful, a sad beautiful. She sighs

She finally pushes herself away from the wall and motions for Charon to come to her.

"The old dish is way out there." She says when he's at her side, pointing to the decrepit, hole ridden one. He nods,"What is it you wish me to do?"

She scowls, and doesn't like what she has to do.

"Just make sure I don't fall."

* * *

She's standing out on the rafter, hair blowing in her face and her body hugged up against the wall. Her gaze wanders downwards, and her heart skips a beat. She quickly looks away and back up to the dish.

She's happy that she learned what she could from machines in the vault. She was always messing around wth something. She had even programmed Andy to sing show-tunes, and it had taken weeks for Stanley to figure out how to fix him.

She pulls the old dish from the wall with a yank and teeters on the edge, the weight throwing her off balance.

"Charon!" She screams as her heart skips a beat. It's that feeling, like when you lean too far back in a chair and for a second you're afraid you're going to fall. But for Treiy, she wouldn't just hit her head on the floor and have to worry about a headache.

He jumps forward, completely ignoring the rope he had tied around her. His arm hooks around her waist and the other on her pip-boy. He pulls her into the room and she finds herself against him, face burried in his chest.

She's silent, but her whole body shakes from the fear. Charon steps away from her as quickly as he had saved her, arms crossed and that stony look on his face. But when Treiy meets his gaze, she can tell he's hiding something. _For how long has he had to do that? Put on a mask and hide his feelings? _

"You okay, Treiy?" She's surprised at first, seeing as there is no formality to the way he speaks. She just nods and grabs the other dish, and begins to work on getting it set up.

* * *

The Brotherhood of Steel she meets at the plaza joke and laugh, all at Charon's expence. It makes her sick, and she's constantly shooting glares at them as she makes her way up the steps.

Charon seems as emotionless as ever, staring straight ahead and completely ignoring the knights.

"No wonder it smells like somebody died in here." Someone says, and Treiy finally decides she's had enough,"Shut up! He's a person, just like me or you."

She yells, then hurries up the steps as fast as she can go, almost like she's running away. Charon's still mildly surprised by her outburst, and especially the fact it was in his favor. He wasn't particularly used to people standing up for him, especially not his employers.

With his long strides he catches up with her fast, and as he walks by her side she mutters,"People are assholes."

A chuckle escapes him, and Treiy smiles, but it's a sad smile. He sighs,"You should not worry, I have grown used to it."

She's about to say something, but when she reaches the top of the steps Three-Dog greets them,"Look who's back! Now GNR can be heard across the wastes again, and all because of you."

Treiy smiles,"I was glad to help." He nods and sits down at a small, circular table, and offers her the seat across from him.

She sits down, and Charon stands in the corner where he can see the steps, and also watch Treiy. Three-Dog eyes Charon cautiously, then turns back to Treiy,"Alright, I bet you're wonderin' where your dad is, eh?"

She nods, leaning forward against the table expectantly,"Yes, please. Tell me anything you know, I miss him _so much_." The tone of her voice, how desperate she sounds, is a large contrast from how confident she was when standing up to the Knights. Now she sounds like a child, and Charon has to remind himself that that is what she is, merely a child.

"When your dad passed through here, he and I talked for a good, long time. He's a real stand-up kind of guy. He mentioned some scientific shit, and something called 'Project Purity.' He also said something about going to visit a Doctor Li in Rivet City, and then he left."

Treiy frowns,"I have no idea where Rivet City is." Charon walks to her side, standing a good three feet over her since she's sitting,"I know where it is. I can program the location into your pip-boy once we head out."

She smiles up at him, then turned back to Three-Dog,"Thankyou, you've helped a lot."

He shakes his head,"You've helped me more then I've helped you, kid." He eyes Charon, then leans forward to whisper in Treiy's ear,"Be carefull around that one, kid. I don't trust him."

Treiy's eyes harden and she stands,"But I do." She turns on her heel and heads out, even though it's begining to grow dark, and they will soon be traveling by night.

* * *

Once they're far enough from GNR for Treiy's liking she slows to a stop,"You know where Rivet City is?" Charon nods,"Let me see your pip-boy."

She sits down on a peice of rubble and holds out her arm for him, and watches as he fiddles with it, trying to program Rivet City's location onto the small green map.

"You don't have to keep doing that." He rasps in the couple minutes of silence between them.

"Doing what?" He sighs,"Standing up for me." He finished, and when she looked down at the map, Rivet City was marked, and it appeared to be right on the river.

"You don't seem to stand up for yourself. You let people treat you like that?" His face is emotionless as she looks up at him,"I was trained to keep my opinions to myself."

"Well, then. I want you to speak your mind around me, Charon. I'm not Ahzrukhal.

He nods,"If that is what you wish." She shoots him a smile,"Alright." She seems hesitant as she checks the map again, mostly to prolong the inevitable.

"Rivet City awaits."


	6. Chapter 6

The tunnels are dark, and Treiy can't stand the dark. She's as close to Charon as she dares, and something about him keeps the feral ghouls away, and she's thankful for that.

As they walk, she sees a light in the distance, and the gate that will bring the two back to the surface.

When they finally leave the metro, Treiy is surprised to see how dark it's become. It felt to her like they had only entered the tunnel a few minutes ago, but the moon is high in the sky, and gives off enough light for the pair to see their surroundings.

Charon stops in his tracks, and Treiy runs into him,"What's wrong?" He shushes her, and points to a nearby building.

"Raiders." She whispers, and finds herself unconsciously scooting closer to him. They're yelling, whooping, and laughing. They're also too close for comfort, and as one of them turns he catches sight of Charon and Treiy. He laughs and calls for the attention of his friends. They rush the two, and Charon whispers in her ear,"Stay close, Treiy."

She nods, but Charon soon realizes that Treiy is useless. With her gun nearly broken and with no training whatsoever, she's a terrible partner.

The Raiders separate the two with ease, even with Charon fighting tooth and nail to keep Treiy at his side.

The young girl fires blindly, taking out one of the Raiders advancing on her. Her heart tightens as she watches the Raider fall to the ground with a grunt. She freezes up, and that gives the other enough time to knock her to the ground.

The Raider's eyes are wild as she pins Treiy's arms to the ground with her knees. She coos in Treiy's ear, her voice disturbingly gentle even as she places the tip of her knife against Treiy's cheek.

"You're a pretty little thing. I was pretty once too, but I learned my lesson." She whispers as she punctures Treiy's skin with the knife, making a long slash from her cheek bone to her chin.

The Raider's screams echo Trey's as she's lifted by the back of her armor and thrown to the ground.

Charon's training and instincts take over as his hands close around the Raider's throat. He can hear the bones in her neck breaking, but doesn't stop until her sputtering and choking ends.

His breathing is low and heavy as he picks himself up off the ground. He winces, pressing his hand to his arm and appearing mildly annoyed when blood smears his palm.

He uses his other hand to pull Treiy to her feet. The blood from her cut is running down her cheek, neck, and staining her armor a dark brown. She seems mostly concerned with Charon's injuries than her own.

"Oh my God, Charon, your arm!" He shakes his head.

"My injuries are not of importance. Sit down, you are bleeding profusely."

"Hell, no." He looks at her in surprise, his eyes widning a fraction. He had come to realize that Treiy, unlike his other employers, tried not to cuss, and only did so when she was very angry.

"_You_ sit down. You got shot, I've only got a scrape." She smiles, then winces as the wrinkling of her cheek opens up the gash even more.

He's already riffling through their scarce medical supplies, and Treiy's expression hardens.

"Charon, sit down and let me take care of you. _That's an order_." He nods, and Treiy winces. She hadn't given him an order yet at all, and she had to remind herself that it was for his health. _You are not Ahzrukhal. _She was constantly telling herself that, since she felt terrible guilt about buying the ghoul.

"If that is what you wish."

"Good." She's already removing the plates of his armor down his arm, pulling out various medical supplies as she works to get the bullet out of his arm. She starts to wrap the wound once she's applied a stimpack, and looks up to find him staring at her. She raises an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You are touching me." She shrugs, finishing with the wrappings and leaving the armor plates on the ground.

"How else do you expect me to treat you? I don't have telekinesis or something.

He gives her a weird look, and she's too exhausted to try to figure it out. Instead she moves away to handle her cheek, cleaning it out with some water in her bag and taping gauze over it.

"This is going to look so weird." She grumbles, not being able to see that the gauze has almost immediately turned red. She sighs, looking back up at Charon to see him almost..._concerned_.

He wipes the expression from his face when he notices her looking and stands. "We should find somewhere to sleep tonight, then head to Rivet City in the morning. We can have a doctor there take a look at your cheek."

She nods,"Right. We can hole up in one of the buildings nearby." She takes a quick look around, then points into the distance,"There."

She stuffs her supplies into her pack, watching Charon kneeling next to the bodies and pulling random bits of supplies and ammo from their bodies. She grimaces.

"You ready?"

"If you are."

* * *

They found one nearby, and only had to fight a few radroaches. They had eventually huddled down in a room that, to Treiy's delight, had a lock on the door.

"Don't want someone killing us in our sleep." She had said rather cheerfully, and Charon had resisted the urge to smirk. Of course, he was reminded of what had just happened less then an hour ago.

He had not been able to protect her, and she had a nasty gash from her cheekbone to her chin to prove it. Not to mention that he had found himself _concerned_ about her. His contract said that he was to protect his employer, not have feelings for her.

Feelings were another thing that were frustrating him. The damned kid was turning his world upside down, getting him into things he hadn't had to deal with for _years_.

And he was liking it. Not just the fact that he got to use his rifle for more than threatening drunks. He was finding himself enjoying her company.

He curses under his breath at that thought, and his gaze wanders over to her still form. She had pulled her Vault suit into a small bundle and was using it as a pillow on the hard, cold floor. She had been playing a message over and over on her pip-boy for what felt like an hour before she had begun to snore.

He had quickly realized who's voice had been coming out of the pip-boy. _Her father's._ She had told him the whole story, her face paling whenever she mentioned having to kill someone. She had almost even cried when she told him how she had woken up, and her father was gone.

_That son-of-a-bitch._ He had thought, finding himself genuinely angry at the man that had left Treiy sad and scared out in the wasteland.

"Daddy." His head snaps in her direction as she rolls over, her eyes only half open as she looks at him. Well, not at anything in particular, but still in his general direction.

He's happy she's still sleeping as she mumbles,"Don't leave."

He shakes his head and finds himself placing his ruined hand over her's as it searched across the dirty ground.

"I'm not leaving you, go back to sleep." She nods drowsily, and her hand goes still as she dozes off again. He sighs and lies down on his back, looking up at the ceiling until he falls asleep.

* * *

**Sorry it took so long to get this up. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Wait, _that's_ Rivet City?" Charon winces at how loud Treiy's voice is as he steps up beside her.

"Yes, and I highly suggest you don't alert any nearby enemies with your shrieking." Treiy smirks at him, noticing how his voice has taken on an almost teasing tone. In fact, she had noticed a lot since last night. His attitude had seemed to change from cold and detached, to a bit kinder and more sarcastic. Even if he decided to be a complete ass, at least he would be showing some emotion, she had decided.

"Whatever. I don't shriek." He scoffs as she starts up the stairs.

"Like a banshee." She stopped and looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Banshee?"

"An old pre-war legend. I forget how it goes but-" The man at the top of the stairs, sitting cross-legged on the ground, interrupts Charon in a desperate voice.

"Do you have any water you can spare?" Just the sound of his voice makes Triey's face fall, and her happy tone disappears from her voice. She gets down on one knee and starts rummaging through her pack.

"Will any water do?" He shakes his head.

"I've been drinking this irradiated shit, but...I just can't do it anymore." Treiy bites her lip, looking as though she's about to cry.

"I'm sorry, but that's all I have." He sighs, and strangely enough he starts reassuring _her_ that it's okay, since she's started tearing up and looks as though she's about to cry.

"You're the only one who's cared to try, anyway." He tells her.

Charon pulls the pack away from her, slinging it over his shoulder and pulling Treiy up and on her feet by her armpits. She gives the man a little wave as the bridge extends, and she follows Charon across it.

"I wish I had some water for him, I feel so terrible about it."

"If it'll make you feel better, we might find someone selling purified water in Rivet City. It's a slim chance though." Her face brightens a little bit as looks up at him, and he fights the urge to smile back down at her.

"What's your business in Rivet City?" The man at the bridge aims down his sights at the two, casting a wary glance at the tall ghoul standing behind Treiy.

"I'm looking for my father. He's a middle-aged man, salt and pepper hair-" The man cuts her off, lowering his gun when he notices Charon's homicidal glare.

"Listen, kid. I know everyone on the ship." Treiy quickly shakes her head, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"He's from a Vault, he came here looking for Doctor Li."

"The doctor?" the man's face brightens in recognition,"Right, she's in the Science Lab. There are signs all long the walls if you get lost." Treiy gives him a smile as she steps the rest of the way off the bridge.

"Thanks..."

"Harkness."

"Thank you, Harkness."

* * *

The two head up the staircase, and Charon stops Treiy,"We should stop by the ship's clinic. Your cut needs to be taken care of."

"Right." She casts wary glances at some of the ship's inhabitants, who are exchanging disgusted looks with each other as Charon and Treiy pass them by. She can hear them whispering, and finds herself wrapping her arms around herself self-consciously.

"_What is _that_ doing here?_" She hears somebody hiss to their friend.

"_I have no idea. You'd think Harkness wouldn't have let it in._"

"_Just looking at it makes me want to puke._" Charon sent a glare in their direction, and the two quickly scuttled away into the room they were outside of.

"I don't get it." Treiy's quite voice piped up beside him. He had noticed how somber she had been since the problem with the water.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do people treat you like that?" Charon shrugs, watching as she turns the corner and stops, checking the signs along the wall.

"I'm a ghoul."

"And?" He looks at her in surprise.

"Ghouls aren't really...accepted. That's why most of us stay in Underworld, it's the safest place for us."

"Oh."

They step into the clinic, the doctor almost jumping out of his skin at the sight of the large ghoul in front of him. He didn't even seem to see the girl in front of him as she waved.

"Hello! Can you check out my cheek?" His head snaps in her direction, and he nods slowly, never taking his eyes off the ghoul.

He works quickly after he pulls the bandage away, grimacing at how infected she had let it get.

"What have you done so far?"

"Washed it out, then put the gauze on it. I didn't have much supplies, or else I could have fixed it up and I wouldn't even be sitting here." He raises an eyebrow at her, not knowing of her father's medical expertise and the fact that he had taught her almost everything she knew. Instead, he merely nods.

When he's done patching her up, he looks over at Charon,"He good?"

Treiy moves back from the doctor and turns to Charon, pressing a hand gingerly over where the bullet had been.

"You good?"

"Yes."

"You're not just saying that so we can get the hell out of here?"

He smirks,"No."

"Awesome." She turns to the doctor, fishing out her caps and trying to ignore the weird look he was giving the two.

* * *

Treiy stops in front of one of the doors, 'Science Lab' written in black letters above it. Her face brightens considerably as she gives Charon a small smile.

"He's in there. I'm going to see him again and everything will be okay." Whispering those words to herself she pulls the door open, stepping inside.

"Dad?"

"Who the hell are-" The woman that approaches them as they go down the stairs is in one of the lab coats. Her eyes widen as she looks at Treiy, her mouth hanging open slightly.

"You...you're James' daughter aren't you?" Treiy nods, giving the woman a big smile.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm actually looking for him, is he here?"

* * *

Charon wanders around the lab as Treiy talks to the woman. He was already disliking her. From the way she held herself to the way she spoke, it all basically screamed 'I'm better then you'. Of course, Treiy was being polite and kind, as she was to most people she met.

He sighs as he watches her, her blond hair pooling around her shoulders and her green eyes tearing up as her face fell. He could tell that she was receiving bad news. Her father was probably somewhere else in this Godforsaken wasteland.

He was right.

"H-He's at the Jefferson Memorial." She stutters, looking as though she's about to cry.

"What if he's not there either? What if I never find him?" She sounded so despaired, and Charon puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. We will find him." He rasps, nodding when she begins to calm down.

She waves a goodbye to the doctor as the two head out, and turns to Charon,"I feel terrible."

"Understandable. You have not been sleeping much. I've noticed you are also having nightmares." She flushes, looking at the walls as they start to the other set of stairs.

"Oh, right." It was true. She had been having terrible nightmares about her father dying horrid deaths out in the wasteland. She was always hoping that he was capable, since she was terrible at the whole combat thing. Of course, she had to remind herself that _he_ had been raised out here, not her.

"You, girl. You don't look like one of the lab techs. No, too...weathered. Are you perhaps for hire?" The older man in the corner speaks out. She had been hoping that he would ignore her, since he had seemed the creepy type.

Ever the pleasant one, she merely sighs,"What are we talkin' 'bout here?"

He smiles, and she decides she doesn't like it.

"You see, I've misplaced some sensitive property. An android to be more precise."

She cocks an eyebrow,"Android?"

"Oh, yes. You probably don't know what an android is."

As he explains, she slowly gets the picture. _The android...he's like a slave. I can't let this man find him. No._

"Sorry, I don't work with slavers." He shakes his head.

"An android is not a slave, it doesn't even have feelings."

"It obviously felt _something_ to have run away, changed it's face, and had it's memory wiped. I'm not working for you." Zimmer glares at her, then shrugs, leaning back against the wall.

She quickly hurries off, looking back to make sure that Charon was behind her.

"Let's find someplace to crash for the night, I'm exhausted."

* * *

They find themselves at the Weatherly Hotel, and with a little coaxing Treiy gets the woman to accept Charon, and asks for an extra cot.

When they get to their room, Treiy barely gets her armor off before she collapses on the bed, letting out a groan.

"Ugh, I'm so sore." She grumbles, then falls silent. After a few minutes Charon expects she's gone to sleep, and moves quietly to retrieve his weapon.

He uses a spare rag in their pack and begins to clean it, something he rarely got the chance to under Ahzrhukal.

"Charon?" Treiy's soft voice cuts thorough he silence, and at first he beleives she's having another nightmare, but as she turns in the bed to look at him her eyes are wide open.

"What do you think of me?" He frowns, what's left of his eyebrows furrowing.

"What do you mean?" She sighs, rolling over to look up at the ceiling, folding her arms over her chest.

"I mean, am I as bad as Ahzrhukal?" He looks over at her incredulously. _How can she even think that?_

"No. You are significantly better than him. You are kind to me and others, you stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves. You are better than most people out here, me including."

"But, I _own_ you! Like a slave-"

"I am no one's slave, Treiy." Her face brightens, and she sits up in the bed, grinning at him wildly.

"That's it!" He frowns at her, believing that the girl's finally gone off her rocker.

"What do you mean?"

Her grin widens, and she wiggles her fingers at him,"Loopholes. I order you to speak your mind, do what you want, critique me if I'm doing something wrong or stupid, and speak up for yourself if you don't like what someone's saying about you."

He smirks at her. _Damn, kid._

"If that is what you wish."

Treiy lays back in her bed, and is still smiling as she falls asleep.

* * *

**Yay, Charon/Treiy bonding time in the bigoted Weatherly Hotel. Anyway, accidentally lied...again. We won't be meeting Dogmeat until a couple more chapters. Sorry. I'm terrible at this stuff. **

**This is Sylvia, signing off.  
**


	8. Chapter 8

"Charon? Hey, Charon." Treiy frowns, bending over the ghoul as he snores. She just couldn't wake him. Finally, she sighs and cups her hands around her mouth.

"CHARON!" He practically leaps out of the bed, not without smacking foreheads with her first, and grabs his rifle. She curses herself inwardly for being so stupid. _Should've known, dammit. Probably expecting me to be half dead and a gun in his face._

"Treiy? What...what the fuck?" He turns on her, glaring. He seems downright murderous, and Treiy finds herself clutching to the wall as he takes a step forward.

"I-I'm sorry. Y-You w-wouldn't wake up. I-I didn't think..."

"You didn't think? That was stupid of you. I thought you were injured." The anger turns to worry as he sees the frightened expression on her face, and he slowly calms down.

"I'm really sorry, Charon." She pushes herself from the wall, wrapping her arms around herself and staring guiltily at the ground.

He sighs, passing a hand over his face,"Ya, I know...how's your head?"

She shrugs, pressing a hand on the spot as though that was going to stop the terrible pain,"Okay, I guess. I mean, what, is your head made of freaking steel or something?"

He chuckles at that, and she's happy that he's showing more emotion than usual. "What time is it?"

She checks her pip-boy,"9:30, I've been up since 9:00, though, already got everything packed." His armor is stacked neatly at the foot of her bed, and their things are stuffed just as neatly into their packs. She's completely ready, leather armor on and her blonde hair tied up into a loose ponytail.

"You let me sleep in."

"Of course. It seemed like you hadn't slept in ages, I think you needed it. Anyway, your armor's on my bed."

* * *

When they're both ready they head out, barely stepping out of their hotel door before people begin giving them disgusted glances. Well, mostly her.

"_Did you here her? I wonder what they were doing in _there_."_

_"I can't even stand to look at it."_

_"Ghoul-fucker."_

_"Zombie."_

"SHUT UP!"

Everyone turns their attention to Treiy, her hand over her mouth in surprise. Even Charon was staring at her.

"J-Just stop. I'm t-tired of it." Her voice grew smaller and smaller as she spoke, and her whole face was red by time she finishes, and she seems almost horrified by herself. She gulps, then takes off at a run.

Charon keeps up with her on his long legs, and doesn't speak until they're at the stairwell, and she's gulping for air.

"What was that about?" She merely shakes her head, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees.

"I was tired of it. All the stares, and insults, just because we're travelling together and you look the way you do. Don't they know anything?" She sounds like a child, Charon decides, not quite old enough to understand that people are assholes, but slowly coming to the realization.

"No, Treiy, they don't know anything. You can't let them get you."

"I know." He sighs, his hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon. Let's go find your father."

* * *

As Treiy passes Harkness she smiles brightly, waving to the gaurd,"Hey! Would you mind doing a favor for me?"

He smiles back, slinging his gun over his shoulder as she steps up to him.

"Sure, what's up, kid?"

"You know that man, Mr. Zimmer?" He gives a disgusted look, as though just the name makes him want to throw up.

"Slimy lookin' bastard. Didn't like him and that monster of a bodyguard-no offense, there- the minute I saw 'em." Treiy nods, understanding. The smile Zimmer had been giving her had creeped her out to no extent.

"Well, he asked me about an android and told me about some holotapes. Mind keeping an eye out for them? For me?" She gives him a smile, and he sighs.

"You're getting into that mess? It's just a hoax...but alright, kid. Where you goin'?"

"The Jefferson Memorial. My dad's there."

He shakes his head,"I'd be careful, place is crawlin' with uglies." He looks up at Charon,"But I think you'll be fine. Good luck."

She starts off with Charon beside her, looking back over her shoulder and yelling,"Thanks, Harkness!"

The security guard shakes his head, pulling his gun back out as the two go down the stairs.

"Kid's gonna get herself killed out there."

* * *

Charon and Treiy hurry across the walkway, Charon taking out the muties as they come out, roaring and insulting the pair.

They -well, Charon really- take out the rest of the super mutants in the Memorial, making their way downstairs to the basement.

"DAD!" Treiy yells as loud as her lungs will let her once her pip-boy map is clear of any little, red lines.

Charon winces as the sound bounces off the metal walls, and the two are met with no answer. Her face falls considerably, and she sighs.

"There are several rooms we have not checked down here. One might hold a clue to your father's location." Charon rasps, almost sounding hopeful himself. He really just wanted to stop seeing the despaired look on Treiy's face after every disappointment her father left for her. He couldn't give a damn for the man. She merely nods, kicking at debris as they head down the halls and stairs.

She checks each room, stopping in the one with a bed and searching around. She picks a holotape up from a shelf and sticks it into her pip-boy, her face becoming wistful as a woman's voice floats out from the little device.

"Mom." She whispers, listening to the giggles coming from the pip-boy. Her face is serious as she listens, and she smiles slightly towards the end and finally stands, stuffing the holotape into her pack and looking back up at Charon, as though surprised he was still there.

"Let's go."

* * *

They get back to the main room, and she stops in front of the only door they hadn't checked. She's tense, and she looks as though she's about to run away. Charon can only guess at what's running through her mind.

"He could be in there. He really could be." Her voice is no more than a whisper, and Charon is reminded of what happened at the Science Lab.

"Well, then, let's go inside." She finally pushes the door open, not looking at her pip-boy as she runs up the steps.

"Dad, it's-" Someone grabs her belt and pulls her back as a super mutant barrels around the circle of the rotunda. She screams, then goes silent as her head hits the glass behind them. Stars dance in front of her eyes as she watches Charon take down the creature on his own.

He turns back to her after the body falls to the floor,"Dammit, Treiy, don't you pay attention!" She shakes her head, her hand flying to the back of her head as the shock began to wear off. She grimaces, feeling the pain blossoming underneath her fingertips.

"I know, Charon, I know." She pushes herself up and off the floor, groaning as the thumping in her head starts. _Twice in one day._

She looks around,"He's not here." A pause as the tears start falling." Dammit, he's not here!"

She slides back to the floor, head in her hands," This is a wild goose chase and I know it, I just know it."

Charon looks distressed for a moment, not sure how to handle this. Finally, he kneels down in front of her, pulling her hands gently away from her face and looking her in the eyes.

"Do not give up just yet, Treiy. You have made it this far."

She's silent, her green eyes meeting his chalky white ones, and after a minute she finally nods. He pulls her up and onto her feet, then his hands release hers and he moves away. She's still stunned silent.

"Treiy? Are you ready?" She looks over at him and nods.

"Right." She looks around, spotting the pile of holotapes on a strange contraption near her and almost dives for them.

She fumbles, with them, sticking each one into her pip-boy a second before the other ends.

"Vault 112...Smith Casey Garage...do you where that is?" She looks up at the ghoul expectantly, since he seemed to know much more than her.

"Yes, it is a few days walk. We can stop in Megaton and resupply on the way there." Treiy nods, giving him a small smile as she stuffs the holotapes into her pack, even though the pip-boy saved a copy automatically.

"Alright...let's go, then."

* * *

**Awesomesauce, finally got this up! Hope you enjoyed it!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Treiy.

"Yes, Charon?"

"We're fucking lost, aren't we?"

"Yup." The ghouls sighs, stepping up beside Treiy and taking her arm gently in his hand. She looks down at the pip-boy in surprise,"Oh, right."

"Have you even been looking at it in the last hour?" She shakes her head, taking her arm back.

"I thought I knew where I was going." He sighs again, slightly annoyed with her before motioning for them to keep going.

They walk for about another half-hour before Treiy stops, pointing to something over the horizon.

"Hey, do you see that?" Treiy puts a hand over her eyes to shield from the sun as she tries to look off into the distance.

"Yes, it is a place called the Scrapyard."

"Great! We can stop there for a bit so we can eat and I can get my bearings." He nods as they walk through the gate. Treiy stops, realizing she can hear barking and cursing a few cars over.

She puts a finger over her mouth and weaves between the cars, holding her gun out in front of her. She peeks around, her eyes going wide as she sees the dog fighting raiders.

"Charon, we have to help her." The ghoul glares at the back of her head, and she's surprised by how quite he can be for such a large man.

"It's just a dog, Treiy. Leave it."

"No nono_no_." She clenches her teeth then runs in, firing shots at the raiders.

One falls, and she can hear the dog ripping and tearing at the ones that are still left. Charon is at her side in a instant. He pushes her back into one of the cars and finishes off the raiders on his own. He turns, hands gripping the gun and whatever skin left on his knuckles turning white.

"What the fuck, Treiy! Don't you have more sense then to just run into a group of fucking raiders like that!"

She crosses her arms and glares at him,"The dog was going to get hurt! I couldn't let that happen!" They're both glaring murderously at each other, and the dog seems to sense this. He wuffs, getting up and barking insanely at the two.

"Goddammit, it's just a dog! It's worth more to us as a meal." Treiy sighs, glaring at the ground and mumbling to herself childishly.

"Whatever. I hate dog meat anyway..." Her face brightens almost instantly and she looks over to the dog, going down on one knee and offering her hand.

"Dogmeat. That's her name." She sniffs her hand, then licks it, which puts Treiy into a fit of giggles. Charon rolls his eyes.

"You're not naming the fucking mutt." Treiy looks up at him, giving the ghoul a defiant glare.

"Yes, I am. Did you see her, though? She was great!" He shrugs, since he won't admit that for a scavenger's half-starved mutt, she did pretty well in holding her own.

Dogmeat licks Treiy's cheek with a small wuff, and the girls breaks into giggles again,"Alright. C'mon, girl, momma's got errands to run. Oh, quit giving me that look, Charon."

* * *

It takes longer to get to Megaton as Treiy had planned, what with their little detour. _Oh well._ She thinks, smiling first up at Charon, then down to Dogmeat. For once, she's very happy.

She waves up at Stockholme on the balcony, and the gaurd waves back.

"Seen anything interesting lately?" She yells up to him, and the man shakes his head.

"Nothin' more interestin' then that little group you've got with ya!"

Treiy smiles, feeling a small bit of pride as the three walk through the gates of Megaton. She immeadiantly sees Lucas Simms.

She waves him down, asking the question that had been bugging her since she found the town.

"What's with the bomb?" The sheriff sighs, looking down at the crater and the man standing in the water, yelling.

"Well, it's been there since before the town was founded. Never went off like it should've. Been meanin' to get someone to take care of it."

"I will." Both men look down at her in surprise, and she gives them a playfully offended look.

"What, you two don't think I can do it?" Charon shakes his head, but Simms nods.

"Sure, girl. If you think you can. There's 100 caps in it for ya." Treiy nods, giving him a smile and a promise as she heads down to the bomb.

"Can you actually do it?" Charon rasps, standing next to her as she gets ankle-deep in the murky water. She checks her pip-boy, frowning at the amount of radiation before popping out a small section of the bomb's shell. She doesn't notice the uneasy looks the ghoul is getting from the rest of the town.

"Yup! Shouldn't be too hard..." She trails off as she begins pulling out wires, tangling others around themselves and each other. After a few minutes she steps back, smiling at the jumbled mess she's made of the inside of the bomb.

"There, that should do it!" She puts her hand on her hips, stuffing the extra wires in her pocket and smiling up at Charon before stepping out of the water and waving down Simms again.

"It's all done! I've made such a mess in there I don't think anyone could figure it out." The sheriff shakes his head, disbelief clearly etched on his face.

"Damn, girl. Looks like I owe you some caps. Here." He says, digging around in his jacket and coming up with a small bag that jingles as he shakes it. He drops it in her hands and fishes a key from his pockets.

"Here, kid. There's a house up there with your name on it now. I'll be over later with the deed. Just go on inside. Moira, up at Craterside Supply, has some things to decorate it with. She's also got general supplies, she's a bit...eccentric, though."

"Thank you, Simms!" Treiy says cheerfully, taking off with Charon to their new home. Charon sighs, shaking his head as he looks back down to the bomb.

"I still can't believe you did that." The girl merely shrugs, petting Dogmeat as she unlocks the door to the building.

"Wow!" She looks around, a big smile on her face as she sets her things down in a corner.

"Hello, Madame. I am Wadsworth, your butler." The young girl immediately starts to ogle over the robot, muttering to herself about someone named Andy, before exploring the rest of the house.

Charon watches her as she does so, opening drawers and looking under the beds. He smirks, and doesn't care to wipe it from his face as she turns to him.

"Charon, why are you following me?"

"You have not given me any other orders."

Treiy rolls her eyes, going back to digging around in a drawer,"I don't know, just hang around. Relax."

"Relax?" She turns back to him and nods,"Yup, relax. We're safe now, this place is safe."

She finishes her rather thorough examination of the house's every nook and cranny before walking up to where Charon has settled on the couch, still looking oddly tense and awkward.

"I'm going to go talk to Moira, and use some of our new money to get some supplies. We'll be needing more for the next few days." He nods, hands folded on his lap, and she finds how much effort he's putting into being relaxed oddly hilarious.

"Alright, see ya." The dog follows her out. In fact, the dog had been on her heels since the minute they found each other. Charon sighs, shaking his head as the door slams behind her.

* * *

"Hello?" Treiy peeks around the corner of the room, and a loud crash almost makes her want to leave.

"W-What? Oh, hi there!" The woman standing in the room looks positive frazzled. Her hair up in a messy bun and her hands fidgeting and kneading the sleeve of her jacket.

"Hi, I'm Treiy. I was told that this is a good place to get supplies." The woman nods, hurrying behind the counter.

"Of course! I have a lot of stuff." She pauses, looking Treiy over, then smiling,"I was wondering, what would you think of helping me with something? You see, I want to write a book, basically on how to survive in the wasteland, but not a lot of people don't want to help me."

Treiy had to hold back a snort, since from the woman's appearance it was probably perfectly reasonable not to help her,"Sure, what do you need first?"

"Well, I need someone to go down to the super-duper mart, or you can get radiation sickness, or go through a minefield." Moira's surprisingly cheerful, even though the things she's listing off are extremely dangerous.

"What about the radiation? I mean, I can do that right here in town." Treiy decides that that might be the easiest, since the area around the bomb is still highly radioactive.

""Well, that's a great idea!" Moira chirps, still smiling like a madwoman. Treiy nods. Of course, a lot of people she had met so far in the wasteland didn't exactly have all their marbles, and Moira certainly was no exception.

"Alright, I'll be back."

* * *

Treiy frowns, staring down at the puddle before slowly stepping in.

"Have you come to bask in the glow of Atom, child?" The man in the water asks, looking at her with an expression she couldn't place.

"Sure, why not?"

As the man explains, Treiy slowly sinks down to sit in the puddle, leaning back against the bomb and listening to Cromwell rave about 'the power of Atom'. _What a load of malarkey_. Treiy thinks, but she lets the man talk.

After several minutes she checks her pip-boy, a smile creeping onto her face at how many rads she had in her body. She practically jumped up, then wavered, feeling sick to her stomach.

"Sorry, sir, but I need to leave." She gives him a charming smile,"You see I'm supposed to be helping a friend, but I would _love_ to hear more about Atom another time. Goodbye." She gives the lunatic a wave before stumbling up the ramps to Craterside Supply.

As she steps inside she clutches her stomach, grimacing,"This better be helpful, 'cause I think I might puke all over your floor." Moira shrugs, then starts asking her questions about her condition.

When the two are done she brings out sets of I.V's and Rad-away and starts sticking the needles and such in her arm.

"Alright, just let me flush you out then you can go!"

* * *

Charon sighs, leaning back on the couch with a book in his hands. It had taken him a few more minutes to really relax after he had found the novel. He would never admit it, but her enjoyed reading. Being a pre-war ghoul had it's benefits, like literacy, a trait many people in wasteland sadly lacked.

The thumbed through the pages, trying to ignore the _putt putt _of Wadsworth moving around the room.

"WHAAAAAAAT!" He heard the scream even from inside the house, and had immediately grabbed the rifle that leaned against the wall.

He would know that scream anywhere.

He charged past people, looking worriedly up at Craterside Supply, then moving on. Most of them had no clue what went on in Moira's shop, and not many cared to know.

He burst in, the guard in the corner aiming at Charon, and the two women looking over in surprise. Even the mutt seemed surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Charon?" Treiy's face was pale, and she seemed like she might throw up. What scared him the most were the numerous I.V.s stuck in her skin.

"Treiy, what happened? What did _she_ do to you?"

"N-Nothing! She was just running some tests on my blood-work and such, since I came from a vault she thought I might be a bit different." The ghoul watches as Treiy pulls the needles from her arm then stands shakily, giving him a smile.

"See? All good! Now come on, I want a drink." He's not dumb, and he can still tell there's something wrong, but doesn't press her.

"I thought you don't drink?"

"Well, I do now."

* * *

Treiy knows she shouldn't go back, not after what happened, but she feels safer with Charon and Dogmeat at her side. She opens the doors of the bar confidently, giving the ghoul behind the counter a wide smile as she sat down.

"C-Charon?" Treiy looks between them, confusion on her face.

"You two know each other?" Charon nods, settling Gob with an icy stare before nodding. Gob stutters out a yes, then goes back to cleaning as a voice sounds behind him.

"Well, look who it is! The little vault rat is back, come to apologize, deary?" Treiy glares at Moriarity, hatred practicaly flowing out of her.

"No, I came for a drink, I've got caps. Gob, I'd like some whiskey." The ghoul nods, stuttering out a 'yes ma'alm' before hurrying off to get her order.

"I see you've got yourself a shuffler, too, eh? They're resilient and hard to kill, I'll give them that, though this one's been 'bout no use to me." He's leaning over the bar, the smell of alchohol and mint making her stomach churn.

"Sorry, Charon's my friend. Besides, Gob does all the shit you don't want to do, anyway, so he's more of a help than you are around here." She surprises herself by chugging down almost half the drink that Gob sets down on the counter in front of her.

"I'll let ya stay, brat, but cause any trouble and you're out. Got it?" Treiy smiles cockily at the Irishman, giving him a mock salute.

"Of course." When he's gone she sighs, leaning over the counter to order another drink from Gob.

* * *

"Go away, Jericho." The ex-raider leans in towards Treiy, a hand on her arm.

"C'mon, ditch big and ugly over here and come with me, eh? We'll have fun." His hand moves up her arm, to her shoulder, and is starting to wonder down to her chest when she grabs it.

"I said go away, you're drunk." He rolls his eyes, muttering something inaudible before his hand begins to wander again.

"She said to leave her alone." Charon finally steps in, glaring at the ex-raider over Treiy's head.

"Pfff, what, are ya sweet on 'er?" He pauses, then he breaks into a cocky smile.

"You are, aren't ya? Sorry, rotface, but I think the lady may want a man with _all_ parts attached." He gestures to his crotch, smiling, then moving to Treiy again.

Suddenly blood spurts from his nose, and Treiy moves back, holding her hand against her chest with a grimace.

"Ow, owow_ow_! That hurt more than I thought it would." Charon looks at her in surprise, then back at Jericho.

"You stupid bitch! You'll pay for that. Dammit, I think you broke it!" He's clutching his face, yelling obscenities. Treiy shrugs, smiling.

"Oops, my hand slipped. Anyway, I'm going home." She dumps some caps on the counter, pushing a few to Gob, smiling at him before turning and motioning for Charon and Dogmeat to follow her out.

* * *

When they finally get back she plops down on the crouch, flexing her hand and wincing,"I think it's getting better now." She calls to Charon as he rummages around in the kitchen, pulling out two container of Salisbury Steak and some Cram. He put the steaks and plates and puts the Cram on the floor for Dogmeat. As he hands her one of the plates he shakes his head.

"I cannot believe you did that. I would have to intervene." They both start digging in, and Treiy smiles at him around a mouth full of food.

"I can throw a punch. Butch and I used to get into fights all the time. We'd both get back to my dad's office with broken noses and black eyes..." She trails off, staring down at the plate before setting it down on the counter.

"I'm not hungry anymore. There's a room on this floor you can sleep in, I'll be upstairs." Charon watches her hurry up the steps before finishing his own food and setting the dishes in the sink for Wadsworth to clean.

He still wasn't completely sure on how she felt about leaving the vault. She rarely talked about it, and he didn't press her.

He settles back onto the couch with the book, glaring at the mutt as it picks up the can it had been licking and curls up at his feet, chewing on the aluminum.

It's almost an hour before he hears Treiy calling his name frantically, and he runs upstairs. She's sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the far wall and hugging herself. She looks over at him in surprise.

"Sorry. The nightmares woke me up, and I didn't know where I was..." She trails off, muttering something about Butch and supermutants before laying back in the bed. Charon sighs, and turns to leave before her voice calls him back.

"Charon?"

"Yes, Treiy."

"Will you stay? Just until I fall asleep?" He stares at her for a minute before nodding and climbing into the bed beside her.

She sighs, curling up into the fetal position and pressing her back up against him. The dog jumps up, and Treiy grabs her and gently pulls her to her, letting out another sigh and burrowing her face in the dog's fur.

Charon finds himself drifting off, her body bumping against his as she breathes. He finds himself feeling content as he closes his eyes.

* * *

**Yup, got this chapter up. At a suggestion from one of the story's followers, Dogmeat is a girl! Yay! I also kind of thought that Moriarity would chew mint leaves or something, like Batista from Inkheart. I find it kind of creepy. And if you haven't read Inkheart, Inkspell, or Inkdeath yet then hurry to your local library, because they are great books.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed!  
**


	10. Chapter 10

Treiy groans, trying to stretch and not disturb Charon. She winces as she feels something sticking into her back, and looks behind her. The ghoul had fallen asleep in his armor,and sometime during the night had rolled over, pulled her against his chest, and left an arm draped over her waist.

She smiles at this, and wiggles down the bed and out from under his arm. She pushes Dogmeat gently over to Charon, and watching with a barely suppressed laugh as the big, tough ghoul pulls the dog against him and buries his face in her fur, then resumes his snoring.

She shakes her head and makes her way quietly downstairs, giving Wadsworth a 'good morning' and asking if he has an Salisbury Steak.

* * *

Charon woke up in a less comfortable way, with a tongue in his mouth and hot, stinky breath on his face. He gags and rolls over, spitting and glaring at the dog as she wuffs.

"Dammit, dog. Where's Treiy?" At the girl's name the dog's tail starts wagging, and she jumps from the bed and runs down the stairs.

"Good, mutt." Charon murmurs as he follows the dog down the stairs.

The dog jumps up on Treiy when she finds her, licking the girl in the face. Charon makes a disgusted face, but the girl just laughs and sets a can of Cram on the ground.

"I don't know why you let the mutt do that. It's disgusting." Treiy just shrugs and takes two plates off a nearby counter.

"I think I made breakfast." She holds out one of the plates, revealing a charred lump.

"What is that?"

"Well, it was Salisbury Steak. I tried cooking it, but..." She makes a face and puts the plates back on the counter,"Never mind." She murmers, plopping down on the couch and picking up the book Charon had left.

She flips through it idly,"I didn't...Charon, you read?" The ghoul nods, sitting down next to her and taking the book gently from her hands.

"Yes. Not many are literate out here, but I am from before the war." Treiy looks at him in awe, a smile on her face.

"Really? Were...were there trees?" He looks at her in surprise. He had expected her to ask more about himself, but instead of saying anything about it he nods and grumbles.

"Yes." Treiy's smile widens, and she closes her eyes as though imagining it. She sighs, then calls for Wadsworth.

"Sorry for not letting you help me earlier, but...can you cook us something?"

* * *

After breakfast Treiy changes into a tank-top and Brahmin-skin pants, raising an eye at Charon,"Do you always wear armor? I mean, we're pretty safe here." The ghoul nods, slinging his rifle over his shoulder.

"Yes." Treiy merely shrugs and heads outside, navigating the confusing maze of ramps up to Moira's shop.

"Well, we're leaving later to go to Vault 112, so we need more supplies. What do you think we should get?"

"Ammo, get our weapons and armor repaired, food, and medical supplies. We'll need more of each if we are to go on more of your..." He pauses, and decides to use the word that Treiy had taken to using for their little detours,"...adventures."

Treiy looks back at him as she opens the door, smiling,"See, they are adventures!"

"And one day they will get you killed."

"Not as long as I have you, pessimist." Moira gives them a weird look as they walk in, then puts a hand on Treiy's shoulder and pulls her into one of the empty rooms.

"I didn't get to tell you about your lovely new symptoms before Mister Overprotective barged in. You see, you'll be able to heal from radiation-"

Treiy interrupts her, her heart beating fast in her chest,"Like a ghoul."

"Yes...kinda. Don't worry though, you probably won't turn into one. However, if you start showing any other symptoms, like skin peeling off, medicines and chems not working as well, then come talk to me. Or better yet, Dr. Barrows in Underworld. He's basically-"

"The leading scientist in ghoulification." Her mouth is dry, and she feels like screaming. _What the hell did you do to me?_

"Oh, you already know him? Isn't that just super!" Moira's voice is cheery, and Treiy kind of wants to punch her like she did Jericho.

"Alrighty then, just a quick rundown: You can?"

"Heal from radiation like a ghoul."

"But you probably won't?"

"Turn into one." _Probably. I still might. Oh god, what have I gotten myself into with this woman? _Moira smiles again,"Alright, let's get back before your buddy starts to freak out."

* * *

They buy the supplies they need and head back to the house and begin to pack. Wadsworth _putt putts_ around them, making little suggestion to keep the inside of their packs neater and more organized. Eventually Charon turns around and tells the robot to shut up.

"Oh, Charon. Be nice, he's just trying to help." Treiy says, stuffing their medical supplies into a lunchbox and stacking it neatly on top of their ammo.

"It is annoying."

"I am very sorry, Sir. I will be sure to ask if you would care to hear my advice first, next time." He glares at the robot, then reaches over to help Treiy with organizing the pack.

"Are you ready?"

"Yup, I just wanna say goodbye to Gob before we leave." Charon suppresses a growl, and stands.

"Fine, but let us make it quick."

"What's your problem with Gob anyway?" The ghoul sighs, following her out with the pack slung over his shoulder.

"It is in the past. I wish not to talk about it."

"Alrighty, then." Treiy says as Charon pushes the door open for her,"But I'll get it out of you one day."

He snorts, and leans against the wall as Treiy walks up to the bar.

"Hey, Gob. I'm leaving now, I've got a new lead on my dad." The ghoul leans over the bar, hands working at the sleeve of his shirt as he talks.

"That's great, Treiy. What will you do after you find him?" Treiy frowns. She hadn't really thought about it.

"I guess...come back here. Dad, Charon, and I can live in the house I got from Simms."

Gob looks over her shoulder at the larger ghoul, who fixes him with an icy glare.

"Right. Well, be careful. I hope you find your dad this time."

"Thanks, Gob."

Treiy starts heading back to Charon, but is distracted by the man in the corner. He's extremely different from the bar's usual patrons, since he's wearing a suite and hat. Charon gives her a look and focuses all his attention on her as she steps up to the suspicious character.

"Well, hello. I believe you are the one I have been sitting here waiting for, my dear."

_Better just stick to being nice._ She casts a glance over her shoulder at Charon, silently hoping he has her back as she nods,"Please, continue."

"Ah, yes. I have been waiting for a person of distinction to come by for quite some time. I have a business proposition for you." She nods and listens, quickly coming to the conclusion that this man is more batshit than Moira, and that's saying something.

"Well, then I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I've already disarmed the bomb." She says it between her teeth, trying to keep from running away as Burke fixes her with a murderous glare.

"You will regret that. You will regret it dearly." He sits up, pushing his chair away from him and not looking back as it clatters to the ground and he leaves the bar.

Treiy sits there for a minute before she feels a hand on her shoulder,"Are you okay?"

She looks up at Charon and nods,"Ya, right, let's go."

* * *

They make it to Vault 112 in record time, with no problems except for the occasional wildlife and raiders. Dogmeat proves to be a great fighter, and no matter how many times Treiy asks, Charon won't admit it.

As they get inside Smith Casey's Garage, Treiy starts rambling,"Do you think the vault residents like my father? What if they hate him? What if he's not even here?"

Charon sighs, sharing a look with Dogmeat, deciding he's an idiot for thinking the dog knows what's going on, then turns back to Treiy.

"Don't worry, Treiy. If he's anything like you, he should be fine." Treiy smiles at that as she searches around the building, taking out the numerous molerats with Dogmeat.

"I can't find any-" She stops, examining a button on the wall.

"Found somethin', Charon!" The ghoul steps up beside her, watching as she presses the button and the light turns green.

At first, nothing happens. Suddenly the floor slides out from under Treiy and she falls shortly, her butt hitting the ground. She yelled out, wincing at the pain that blooms on her rear.

"Dammit! That hurt!" She picks herself up, rubbing her butt as she looks up at Charon as he takes the easier way, down the stairs.

"Are you okay?"

"Ya, I think it might be bruised though." She straightens herself out and pets Dogmeat absently as they come up to the vault door. She tenses up as her fingers fly over the commands on the console, and the door rolls out of the way with a deafening screech.

"Welcome, my sensors tell me you are 202.3 years late. Please change into your Vault 112 vault suit. If you have misplaced yours, I am programmed to give you a new one."

Treiy frowns, noticing how silent the vault is,"Umm, I've misplaced mine."

The robobrain goes to a nearby locker, pulling out a blue vault suit and handing it to her. She turns to Charon and makes a turning motion with her finger, and the ghoul turns away to stare at the wall.

She changes quickly, moving to Charon and stuffing her armor in the pack.

"Ready?"

"Yup!" They head through the vault, and Treiy freezes when she see's the Tranquility Loungers placed in a circle around what appears to be a central system. She runs down the stairs, stopping at each pod before finding the one with her father in it.

"Daddy!" She yells, her hands leaving prints on the glass. She grabs at the edges of the door, but her attempts are useless. Before Charon gets to her she's already taken out her shotgun and started slamming the butt against the glass, again and again.

"Treiy!" As she turns the gun around frantically, about to take the shot, he grabs her wrists, causing her to drop the weapon.

"Let me go, Charon! I have to get him out!" She looks around, noticing the empty one.

"No, Treiy. You are not going into one of those things." He grips her wrists tighter, his eyes widening in a panicked expression.

"Charon, I have to. My dad is in there. I have to go!" Charon shakes his head, tightening his grip on her wrists as though he'll be able to keep her with him.

"What if you die in there, what am I going to do?" She takes it as him worrying over his contract, and holds up a finger. She pulls a couple plates of armor from her shoulder, revealing the little folded paper between them. She unfolds it and hands it to him.

"If I die, take Dogmeat and go back to Megaton." He shakes his head.

"Treiy, that's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant. You're worried about where your contract will end up. I understand." He shakes his head again.

"No...I'll show you what I meant." He knows, he knows he shouldn't do it, but for once in his life he lets his emotions control him. He steps forward and takes her face in his hands, and bends over, pressing his ruined lips against her's for a second before stepping away.

"Be careful." She nods as though in a daze and steps up into the Tranquility Lounger, settling back in the oddly comfortable chair. She looks back at Charon as he presses a ruined hand against the glass. She presses her hand against it from her side, giving him a smile before turning as a small T.V moves down.

She watches the images flashing in front of her, distracting her almost hypnotically from the numerous plugs and I.V's sticking themselves into her skin. She can feel the screen pulling her from reality, and she gives Charon one more fleeting look before the darkness consumes her.

* * *

**The last few chapters have been pretty long, sorry about that. There's just so much now that the stories picking up the pace. Don't worry, though, there's plenty of excitement to come. Now we're about to come to the creepiest, and my least favorite, quest of the game. I won't be spending a HUGE amount of time on it.**** Anyways, hope you enjoyed!  
**


	11. Chapter 11

Treiy opens her eyes, staring around her at the strange environment she's been thrown into. Charon is no longer at her side, and the darkness of the vault is replaced with a strange brightness and a cheerful neighborhood.

She blinks, as though merely closing and opening her eyes is going to make the strange image disappear. She goes to stand, and finds that her legs feel like jelly. She tries for several attempts until her legs stop wobbling.

"Well, hello there, missy!" A chipper voice calls to her, and she turns to look up at the middle aged man smiling down at her.

"Hello, sir." She's appalled to find that her voice is the same as when she was little, and she looks down to find herself a child again, and wearing a pre-war dress. "Have you seen my dad?"

He shakes his head,"No, can't say I have, sorry. But, in the meantime, why don't you go play with Betty? She likes making new friends!" Treiy feels a chill crawl up her spine, and she looks over at the park to find a girl smiling at her. She swallows the lump in her throat and nods.

"Alright, then. Thanks."

"You're welcome!" The man walks off, and Treiy makes her way to Betty.

"Oh, someone new to play with! What good luck I have today!" she says cheerfully. "Do you want to play a game?"

Treiy shakes her head, taking a look around her,"No, sorry. I'm looking for my dad, but we can play later. Okay?" She speak as though she's talking to a child, and technically she is, but the words that come out of the girl's voice next sound too hard and demanding.

"We're going to play a game." Treiy turns back to Betty and finds her glaring at her. _Alright, don't make her too mad._

"Right...okay. Let's play a game, then."

"Oh, goody!" Betty claps her hands and is smiling again," It's a simple game, really. There is this boy who lives here. He's the only other kid around here besides you. His name is Timmy Neusbaum and I want you to make him cry."

"What, I'm not going to make some kid cry!"

"Yes, you are. Or you'll never find your father." Her voice is dark, dangerous, and send that chill up Treiy's spine again. She turns on her, narrowing her eyes at the girl.

"Where is he-"

"I suggest you hurry. He doesn't have much time." Betty turns, tilting the water can and whistling a tune to herself. Treiy glares at the back of her head and, befitting her new appearance, sticks her tongue out at her.

* * *

Treiy steps up to Timmy, who smiles widely at her from behind his lemonade stand.

"Hi, there! You're new here, aren't you?" She nods.

"Yeah, my name's Treiy." She leans forward across the stand, crossing her arms and looking up at him.

"What do you like, Timmy?" He smiles at her, taking it as a mere question.

"Well, I like my bicycle, animals, but most of all I like my parents.

"But what if they divorce?" She says, her voice low.

"Don't say that!" He says vehemently. "Don't ever say that!" And just like that, she knew how she could make him cry.

" It's true. They _are_ getting a divorce. And you know _why_?" She says. He shakes his head and his eyes are wide with fear. "Because of _you_, Timmy."

"B-because of me? Did I do something wrong?" He asks, and she can feel her heart breaking at his pitiful voice.

"Yeah. They hate you. They wish you were dead. Who wants a snot-nosed little kid clinging to them all the time?" She says harshly.

"No!" Timmy says. "Not my mommy and daddy!" He begins to cry and she turns away from him, walking slowly back to Betty, trying to ignore the sound of his sobbing behind her.

"I did it. He's crying." She say, glaring at Betty from underneath her bangs, and she remembers why she had had them cut when she still lived in the vault.

"Not exactly the most inventive way, but persuasion can be an effective weapon none-the-less and you wielded it amenably. You get one question."

"Where's my dad?" Betty frowns, then smiles.

"Oh, he's here. But I'm afraid he's a little...busy."

"Please, just tell me where he is-" Betty shakes her head, smiling wickedly at Treiy.

"You've used up your question. You need to play the game more to earn more questions." Treiy glares at the other girl.

"Fine, what else do you have for me?"

Betty smiles, revealing all of her pointy teeth.

"Oh, I have so much more."

* * *

Woah, really short chapter, at least, compared to the last couple I've typed out. I want to keep this arc going for a one or two more chapters. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!


	12. Chapter 12

"I want you to pay a visit to the Rockwells. They're happily married and I'd like you to change that." Betty says, and Treiy merely stares. _I can't break up a marriage!_

Betty gives her a weird look, and Treiy stutters out an 'okay' then hurries off. She's silently freaking out as she walks to the Rockwells' home.

"You." She turns and stares up at the older woman. The look in her eyes reminds her of Moira, wide and barely sane.

"You don't belong here," the woman says, almost as if she's in a trance. She grabs Treiy's hands, holding them tight and focusing on the girl's face.

"You have to end it! You have to end the suffering!" Her hands are tightening, and Treiy tries to pull herself away.

"You have to activate the failsafe! Please!" The woman stops, then hurries off, mumbling to herself and looking around frantically. Treiy rubs her wrists, trying to get the blood flowing again.

"Failsafe, right. I'll get to that _after_ I find my dad." She mutters, walking to the nearest house.

She's disappointed to find it empty, at least almost empty. the only occupants appear to be a creepy looking garden gnome, a coca-cola bottle, and a couple more pieces of trash. She frowns and steps inside.

"Hello?" She scowls when her voice echoes through the empty house. She turns to the garden gnome.

"Well, I guess this house is empty, then. Do you know where I can find the Rockwells?" She flicks it, and frowns at the strange noise that comes out.

"Huh, what are you hiding?" She whispers, flicking it again and getting a low sound from somewhere in the room. She smirks, and begins tapping the assortment of junk lining the room. Each lets out it's own note, and she finds herself whistling the strange tune from earlier.

"Radio, pitcher , gnome, bottle." She gets the low din from no where, and she begins to think it means she's doing it wrong.

"Okay, again. Radio, pitcher , gnome... pitcher? Okay, keep going. Cinder block, gnome, bottle."She mumbles, keeping track of each note and whistling the tune to herself as she works. She's finally rewarded with a small sound, and the back wall shimmers, revealing a terminal.

"Yes!" She runs to it, tapping away wildly until she finds the failsafe option. She scowls, and finally chooses 'yes'.

Suddenly she can hear yelling and screaming, and when she runs outside she watches in horror as people are gunned down by Chinese soldiers. She catches sight of the older woman from earlier, who gives Treiy a smile before her head is shot off of her neck. Treiy screams, then covers her mouth, muting the sound.

"You idiot! Look what you've done!" Betty is running up to her, but her voice isn't the same. Instead it's the voice of an older man, with a thick accent.

"W-Where's my dad?" She stutters, trying to look defiant.

"He was that stupid dog the whole time." Her voice changes back again, and Triey would feel sorry for her-him-it-whatever, if it wasn't for the circumstances." Oh God, now I'll be all alone."

"So...we can leave, then?" Betty nods, her face in her hands.

"Yes, just go. Just leave me here, all alone, with no one." Treiy nods, walking over to the door without looking back.

Charon sighs, leaning against Treiy's pod and glaring at the mutt. They had been there for days, and they were both getting restless. Dogmeat starts to whine, and they both watch as the Robobrains start gathering around the pods. The tops slide open, and they begin to pull out the bodies of the pods' occupants.

For a second he doesn't understand, but as the bodies practically disintegrate in the robobrains' clutches it dawns on him.

"NO!" He turns, and is about to start pounding on the glass of Treiy's pod with the butt of his gun when the door slides open. She stumbles out, and would have fallen on her face if Charon hadn't caught her.

"Charon?" She whispers, looking up at him. He nods, and is about to hug her to him when she breaks from his grip.

"Daddy!" She stumbles to the older man standing there, and the two fall to their knees. They're clinging to each other, and Treiy is sobbing into his shoulder.

"Treiy, what are you doing here?" He asks, pulling her away and holding her by the shoulders at arm's length. "You're supposed to be in the vault."

"Well, it's kinda hard when the Overseer turns into a homicidal maniac." She says as she hiccups, giving him a soft chuckle. He shakes his head, then pulls her to him again.

James looks over her shoulder, and seems to see Charon and Dogmeat for the first time. He frowns, and Charon can't help but glare at him.

"Alright, sweetie. What's the plan?" Treiy wipes her tears away and checks her pip-boy. It's late, and she decides it might be a better idea to sleep than to trek out now.

"Well, we should stay the night here. Well, not here, upstairs. I don't want to be down here anymore." James nods and gives her a smile.

"Neither do I."

* * *

Charon stands in a doorway, watching Treiy as she packs their bags. The number of supplies they had accumulated over the mere weeks since they had met was becoming too much for Treiy, so she had split it up between two packs; one for Charon, and one for herself.

He coughs to catch her attention, and as she looks up to him with a smile he rasps,"Treiy, we need to talk."

"Sure, what's up." She stands and moves, closing the distance between them.

"Before you entered the Tranquility Lounger. I...I stepped out of line. I'm sorry-"

Suddenly, Treiy's lips are against his, and he finds himself unable to pull away. He wraps his arms around her waist, bunching the 112 vault suit in his ruined hands.

Abruptly, he steps back, pushing her gently away from him. His eyes are wide, distressed, and Treiy feels her stomach drop. "Charon, are you okay?" She asks.

"No." He says, shaking his head,"This is wrong."

"Charon, I-"

"You are my employer. Nothing more." He rasps. This is one of the rare times when the ghoul is an open book, forgetting to hide his emotions. Confusion, fear, anger,(but whether he's angry at himself or at her, she doesn't know), denial, then he flees the room.

Treiy stands forlornly in the room, her gaze fixed on the spot the ghoul had occupied only moments before, looking as though she had been slapped in the face. She can still feel his lips against hers, chapped and rough, like sun exposed leather.

Of course, that hadn't been her first kiss. Surprisingly enough, her first had been Butch. He had cornered her after class, and told the others to go along without him. She had been sure he was going to tease her, but instead he had leaned forward; his hands on either side of her waist, pressed against the wall, and kissed her. He had stunk of hair grease and cigarettes. and the kiss hadn't felt special to her at all.

Her kiss with Charon, however, had felt different, and being rejected by him stung worse than if she _had_ been slapped. _What did I do wrong?_ She thought as she sat down next to the backpacks, her face in her hands.

* * *

Charon sighs, leaning against the outside wall of Smith Casey's Garage. He was pissed off. Mostly at himself for letting her get that close to him, and for getting that close to her.

"Dammit." He growls as he pushes himself away from the wall. He finds himself fingering the worn, dirty, and torn paper in his pocket. His contract.

No one had put that much trust in him. Enough to beleive he wouldn't run away. Even if he could, he had realized that he wouldn't have. That was when he knew that there were some things he couldn't stand the thought of her having to bear. Waking up and finding him gone? That was one of them.

He sighs again and pushes the door open. She's not in the main room anymore, and when he steps through the doorway he finds her curled up on a mattress, her back turned to her father and Dogmeat in her arms.

When the dog sees him she bares her teeth and lets out a small growl. Charon glares at her and pulls his lips back in response, but when Treiy's eyelids flutter he quickly tries to put on a more pleasant expression. Last time she had caught him 'teasing the poor thing', as she had put it, she had fussed at him.

"Charon?" She asks drowsily, pushing herself up on her elbows and frowning up at him.

"What do you want?" She sounds hurt, and it pains Charon to hear her speak like that.

"I have come to return my contract." He rasps, pulling the paper from his pocket and dropping it next to her as though it will burn him.

"Oh. Right." She picks it up off of the floor, giving it a strange look before folding it and stuffing it down her shirt. He stands there for a minute, not entirely sure what to do now.

"Charon."

"Yes?"

"Just go to bed." Charon nods, moving to the other room and sitting against the wall facing the door. He sighs as he pulls his gun from his back, tinkering with it until he finds himself too tired to stay awake.

* * *

**Guess what I did, guys! I decided that I didn't entirely like how this chapter went. I read over it and felt like their relationship was moving too fast. There would be a lot of problems that Charon would have to deal with when it comes to that kind of thing, no matter how much Treiy wants him to just suck it up. **


	13. Chapter 13

"All I've seen so far are the shuffler and the old man. You sure the girl went in there?" One of three men squatting behind an outcrop says, peering at Smith Casey's Garage through a pair of binoculars.

"Of course I am," The one who appears to be the youngest says, glaring at the back of the others' head. "It was the right one this time time, too. Short, blonde-"

"And cute as a button. You sure we can't-" The third one cuts in, smirking.

"Yes, I'm sure. Burke wants her alive, and unharmed. Technically that's harming." The oldest says, raising the binoculars again as a scream cuts the air. He watches with a scowl as the girl runs out in nothing but a tank-top and underwear. The ghoul they had seen earlier barrels around the corner, almost running into her. The two share soft spoken words as the old man follows behind the ghoul.

"If it was any other job, though..." He continues, trailing off to indicate exactly what he would do if it _was_ any other job. The youngest chuckles, and watches as the girl nods and heads back inside.

"What do you think _their_ relationship is, eh? Business partners, slave," He makes a face,",lovers?"

"No idea, but she and the old man kind of looked the same. Maybe they're related?" The oldest grumbles, setting down the binoculars and grabbing his rifle. The other two ready themselves.

"Doesn't matter now. Remember: alive and unharmed. You can kill the other two if you want."

* * *

At a suggestion from Charon, Treiy slips on her armor and begins to pack. She stuffs supplies in her bag, taking a second to run her finger against the scar on her cheek.

She had removed the gauze after the deal with Moira to find it completely healed. She had also realized that she hadn't told Charon, and wasn't sure when she would.

She pauses a second, watching Dogmeat sniffing the floor as she walks. Suddenly, the dog begins to growl, and Treiy raises an eyebrow.

"What's wrong, girl?" When the dog says nothing(not like she was expecting her to say anything) she resumes her packing.

She hears the door behind her open, and Dogmeat's growling gets louder. She sighs, remembering how the dog hadn't really enjoyed Charon's company.

"Hey, I need to-" Suddenly there are hands against her mouth, and she tries tearing them off of her. She's screaming, but it's all muffled. Finally, she bites down until she tastes blood. Dogmeat is barking wildly.

"God dammit, you bitch!" The man yells, and she feels something stab into her neck. She lets out a small groan as the chem rushes through her veins, making everything fuzzy.

Another set of footsteps sounds next to her head.

"You got her? Good. Wait, what the fuck is with the dog-" He cuts off with a scream as Dogmeat leaps forward, ripping and tearing at the man's legs. She can hear him fall to the ground, and the other begins to fire off shots.

"Fucking, mutt." The merc kicks the others' body, watching the door that the dog had just run out of. He shrugs and lifts Treiy, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Oh well, more money for me." He starts outside, and the barking resumes. She hears footsteps, and someone yells her name as she closes her eyes.

* * *

Charon barrels around the corner, assault rifle in hand. He gets close enough and slams the gun into the nearest man. He recognizes the symbol on their breast. Talon Company.

He can hear James behind him fighting the other mercs. He charges to the one carrying Treiy, but feels the crack of a rifle. There's no pain at first, but he recognizes the feeling of blood running down his back.

"Charon?" He hears Treiy whisper his name, and James yelling her's over the sounds of the mercs, but the blood is pounding in his ears as he slides to the ground.

"Just tie up the old man and leave him. We've got what we came for."

"Charon!" She's waking up, and starts fighting against her captors. She's kicking and punching, yelling out obscenities that would have made her father fuss at her if he wasn't being gagged.

"Shut up!" the merc lands a blow to her head, and she stops.

"I thought we weren't supposed to hurt her?" The youngest says, eyeing the girl's limp body and the knot forming on the back of her head.

"Screw that, and watch out for the fucking dog, it ran off somewhere." He surveys the area one more time before nodding.

"Alright, let's go get paid."

* * *

James pulls against the binds, staring at Charon's body on the ground. He appears to be dead, but his chest shudders slightly. _Still alive, good. _

He pulls again, but he knows it's useless. He'll either die some unfortunate death, or there will be some kind of miracle.

_Looks like it's the unfortunate death._ He thinks as he hears footsteps behind him.

"Come back to finish me?" He tries to say, but it all comes out muffled from the gag. He tries to frown, realizing how soft the footsteps are. He attempts to turn, and only succeeds in falling onto his side and rolling over to his stomach.

He never thought he'd be so happy to see a dog in his life.

Dogmeat drools over him, and plants a big, bloody, slobbery kiss on his cheek. He smiles around the gag, and sighs, releived, as the dog begins chewing on the binds. Once his hands are loose he unties the gag and ruffles the dog's fur.

"Well, aren't you a smart one?" Dogmeat gives him an appreciative lick, and he turns to Charon.

The small shuddering of the ghoul's chest is almost nonexistent, and James tries to pull him into the garage. Charon's almost a foot taller and weighs much more, so it takes a lot of effort to pull him into the building and set him down in the most comfortable angle he can manage.

He riffles through his daughter's medical supplies, wondering for a second why she carries around irradiated water in her pack, then focuses on more important matters.

He then rolls the ghoul onto his stomach, frowning at the small groan he lets out. James gets to work on pulling out the slug, then pours the irradiated water over the wound.

He watches with mild satisfaction as the gaping hole begins to slowly knit itself back together. Charon begins to move, grumbling and groaning as he picks himself up. He winces, and clenches his teeth, then turns his unfocused attention to James.

"Wha...what happened?" Something ignites behind his eyes and he pushes himself up, then falls again with a gasp at the pain in his back.

"I suggest you stay put for a while, you're not done healing." James says, setting the supplies he pulled out in his hurry back into Treiy's pack. He pauses, a hand resting on the Vault suit at the bottom.

"I need to get Treiy. They took her, and I need to find her." Charon growls, wincing again as he tries to stand.

"I understand, Charon, but we have no plan, and no idea where she is. Take a minute so we can figure-" James looks calm, very much unlike Charon, and that seems to set something off in him.

"They could be doing anything to her!" Charon yells, glaring at James.

"Don't you think I know that? You're not the only one who cares for her."

"Do you really?" James looks at the ghoul in surprise, and almost seems hurt.

"Yes, I do. I left her in that vault _for_ her safety. I didn't expect...this." He sighs, then stands, slinging the pack over his shoulder and looking from Dogmeat to Charon.

"Chems won't work well on you, so you'll have to bear with the pain. Can you?" Charon nods, wincing as he bends to get his assault rifle.

"Good, let's go get my daughter back."

* * *

Treiy wakes up with a strange feeling. The bed isn't familiar, and Charon's solid form isn't at her side. She rolls over, opens her eyes, and tries to keep herself from screaming.

"I see you are awake." A silky voice says near her, and she looks at the foot of the bed. Mr. Burke is sitting at the end of the bed, a hand resting on the sheets as he watches her. She reflexively pulls the sheets up to her chest, even though she's not naked. Something she is very glad for, but her armor is still missing.

He seems to notice her distress and gives her a small, almost apologetic smile,"Do not worry, your armor has been dealt with. I couldn't let such a beautiful, young woman wear that filthy thing. There are dresses in the wardrobes when you are ready." He walks to the side of the bed and leans into her, his hand pressing gently against her cheek.

"You are safe here, songbird." Treiy finally finds her courage as the memories from her drugged stupor resurface, and she pounces. She knocks him to the ground, sending her fists over and over into his face. He's yelling for the guards, his sunglasses askew and the lenses shattered. Blood is gushing from his nose as the guards pull her off of him.

She's screaming obscenities at him as the guards pin her arms against the bed.

"You will regret doing that." He says, his voice low and menacing as one of the guards finally knock her out with a blow to the head.

Charon, James, and Dogmeat take out the feral ghouls as they make their way through the metro. Charon had exlained to James that he had known a ghoul many years ago that would be very happy to help them get into Tenpenny Tower.

"Stop right-"

"Shut up, Masters. I'm here to see Roy."

The other ghoul looks surprised at first, and his eyes flick from Charon to James. He shuffles his feet, as though unsure, then lets them through.

"Right, just down through there."

Without another word Charon hurries down the hall, and James struggles to keep up.

"Roy, I need your help." The other ghoul is sitting in a chair, one arm draped over a female ghoul's shoulders and the other holding a bottle. He glares up at Charon, whispers softly to the other, then watches her as she leaves the room.

"What do you want, Charon? It's bee years since I've seen you." He leans the chair back and puts his feet up on the table.

"I need to get into Tenpenny Tower. A man there hired Talon Company to-"

"Get a girl. I saw them bring her in. Pretty little thing, looked pretty beat up. I can help you, but you've got to help me. See, we have the same goals. We both want to get into the smoothskin's hotel, and I've already got a plan."

He sets his feet back on the ground and stands, giving James a distrustful glare,"I'll tell you, but not around the smoothskin."

Charon turns to James,"Stay here, I will be back shortly."


	14. Chapter 14

Treiy awakens to a pounding headache and the distant sounds of screams. She groans and pushes herself up on shaky arms, rubbing the back of her head and wincing.

"You are awake, songbird." Burke is standing on the other side of the room, rummaging through one of the large wardrobes.

"What's going on?"

"I have no idea. I was waiting for you to wake up so you would not be alone."

"Well, I don't care."

Burke gives her a sad look, and she would feel guilty for her attitude if he hadn't kidnapped her,"I know."

There is a short, awkward silence between them before Burke speaks up again,"I'm going to go see what's happening. Stay here." He steps around the side of the bed and up to her, cautiously setting a hand on her shoulder. He bends over slightly to look her in the eye.

"Please, stay here. You'll be safer." She glares at him and clenches her fist,keeping down the urge to punch him in the jaw. He sighs, then leaves. Treiy waits a few minutes before pushing herself out of the bed.

"Yeah, right." She grumbles, and pushes the door open. She frowns, seeing as there's no guard.

"Idiot." She grumbles, stepping back into the room and pulling a dress from the wardrobe. _Don't wanna run around in just my undies, now do I?_

She barely gets to the next level of the tower before she hears it. Growling and chomping. She peeks around the corner and gags.

Two feral ghouls are sitting around the body of an older woman, pulling at her flesh and barely even chewing. The sounds of her puking catch their attention, and when she looks back up they're right in front of her.

She screams, falling back and flailing as one of them pounces on her. The smell of rotting meat invades her nostrils and she tries to get away. It latches it's mouth on her arm and pulls, tearing a chunk of flesh from her. Her screams echo down the halls.

Suddenly she hears footsteps and gunshots, and the ghoul on top of her falls. She rolls it off and lies there, her breathing short and shallow.

"Are you okay there, missy?" An old man's voice, and she finds it strangely familiar.

She whimpers in response, pressing her hand to the gaping hole on her forearm.

"Oh, dear. Give me your other hand, girl, and I'll help you up." Something finally clicks as she looks into the old man's worried eyes as he pulls her up.

"You're Herbert Dashwood, aren't you." He smiles, but his face is creased with worry as he looks at her arm.

"Yes, I am. You've heard my show on GNR, haven't ya?"

"Yes, I'm Treiy. You haven't seen a ghoul around have you? Freakishly tall, kinda red, probably with a dog?" He shakes his head, and Treiy looks crestfallen. She knew it would be almost impossible. She didn't know the extent of his wounds, and for all she knew he could be dead.

She mentally chastises herself for even thinking of such a thing. _It's Charon we're talking about here, he's fine. _

"Can't say I have. Now, come on. I need to get you something to take care of that."

* * *

They check different rooms as they walk, Treiy having torn a piece of her dress and pressed it against the wound. What worried her was that it wouldn't stop bleeding, and she could feel herself growing weaker from blood loss. Dashwood kept giving her worried looks.

They find Treiy a pistol, and decide to make their way to the courtyard. As they're walking through the lobby something jumps from the shadows.

Treiy screams, but what attacks her is soft, covered in fur, and (thankfully) not trying to kill her.

"Dogmeat?" The dog barks and licks her face, leaving a streak of bloody slobber on her cheek. She laughs.

"Treiy!" Charon appears in one of the doorways. Blood is splattered across the front of his armor, and he seems to be favoring his left leg.

She pushes Dogmeat off of her and runs to Charon, ignoring the pain in her arm as she hugs him tightly. She feels his arms against her back, and one of his hands tangle in her hair.

"I thought you were dead." She says into his armor, and his chest rumbles.

"As did I. Come on, we must find your father and a friend of mine." He pulls her from him gently, but he stops when he sees the gaping wound on her arm. She notices his worried look.

"Oh, right. A feral ghoul got me. We couldn't find anything."

"We?" Treiy's face brightens, and she steps aside. Dashwood had been standing next to Dogmeat, watching how the two interact.

"Herbert 'Daring' Dashwood, sir." He says, stepping forward and offering his hand. Charon gives him a distrustful look, but shakes his hand rather awkwardly anyway. Treiy is practically beaming at this, since she had been a big fan of the show since she had made it out of the vault.

She steps behind Charon and digs around in their pack before pulling out a bottle of irradiated water. She pauses as she uncaps the bottle, frowning up at Charon.

"Wait, you lost my dad?" Charon freezes.

"Yes. We got separated shortly after we entered with the ferals."

"Did you do this?"

"...kind of." She's looking up at him with a shocked look, her wounds momentarily forgotten as she looks around at the carnage. Blood is splattered across almost every available surface, and the bodies of Tenpenny Tower's residents and feral ghouls litter the halls. She shakes her head, and when she looks back up at him there's a strange sadness on her face, but thankfully not the horror and fear he had expected.

"Right." She murmurs, gulping down the water and sighing.

"Treiy wait. I can find you some purified water." She shakes her head and lifts her arm, smirking at his confused expression. The wound begins to knit together until it's nothing but a nasty scab. There's still a dip in her arm where the skin had been taken, but it looks pretty normal.

"When you found me with Moira I had just helped with something, and this was the side effect. Radiation heals me."

His expression changes from confused, to shocked, to angry.

"I'm going to fucking kill that woman."

"No, you're not. It's better this way...I guess." She gives him a reassuring smile,"Anyway, come on. Let's go find my dad. Are you coming Mr. Dashwood?" She turns to the older man, who shakes his head.

"Sorry, Missy, but I'm going to go search for any more survivors. I'm sure you'll be safe." He says, hefting his gun and giving the two a sad smile before turning and heading into one of the rooms.

Treiy nods, taking a moment to kneel down and ruffle Dogmeat's fur before sighing and motioning to Charon for them to leave.

* * *

The trio check each floor, but don't find anything until they reach the top floor. Treiy grimaces as they pass the suite she had been kept in.

They can hear talking in one of the rooms, and when they enter they find Roy and Mr. Burke having a conversation. Burke chuckles, and when he turns to Treiy he frowns.

"I see you've escaped your cage, my songbird." He says, taking a steps towards her. Charon aims his gun at the man's head. Burke merely smiles.

"Oh, _you_ must be Charon. I found this lovely slip of paper on her person. I believe it belongs to you." He says, reaching into his suit pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper. He unfolds it, and his smile widens as he reads.

"'Charon is honor-bound to you so long as you, his employer, holds this contract.' Well, then. It seems I am your new employer."

* * *

**Oh noes! Anyway, I edited Chapter 12 to something I thought fit better. Sorry this took so long, I had absolutely no motivation and I just got a new digital tablet, so that has taken over my life. **

**Just a funny little thing: Every time I type that Charon 'rasped' something, I forget the 's'. So it ends up saying 'Charon raped', and I have to stop a second and laugh because of how ridiculous it sounds when I read the sentence before I correct it.  
**


	15. Chapter 15

Charon looks from Burke to Treiy, shocked. Dogmeat looks confused, and Treiy merely shakes her head, struggling to speak.

"Now, then. Put your weapon down. I don't quite like having it pointed at my head." Charon hesitates, still looking between the two with a shocked expression, and Burke's lips form a tight line.

"I _order you_ to put your weapon down, Charon." The ghoul lowers his weapon, his expression stoic, but with vaguely hidden anger behind it. Burke smiles and nods, then turns his attention to Treiy.

"Now, then. I'm not entirely sure whether you are truly loyal to me or not, Charon. Take that knife from your boot." Charon obeys, and there's a troubled look on his face as Burke continues.

"If you are loyal to me, then your previous employer shouldn't matter, correct?" Charon nods, his brow furrowing. "Then take your knife and cut her arm. Make sure it is deep."

"As you wish." Charon turns to Treiy, and his face is wiped of emotion as he takes her arm. He doesn't look at her, even as she looks up at him. He is surprised, however, that she doesn't try to fight him. Instead, she seems to make it easier for him as he presses the knife against her forearm.

"I am sorry." He says quietly, so that only she would hear. He presses the knife hard against her arm then slashes it across, watching as she closes her eyes tight and grits her teeth. She lets out a small whimper, then meets his guilty gaze.

"What are my next orders, Master?"

"Take her to her suite and guard the door. Do not even speak to her, _that is an order_"

"As you wish." He rasps, pinning her arms behind her back. She gasps as the movement opens her wound even more, and blood has coated her forearm. He pushes her forward and out the door, then into the hall. Treiy doesn't struggle, instead she just sighs as Charon moves back from her as they enter the suite. He steps back, but before he can get to the door Treiy has sprinted out.

She takes a second to look over her shoulder, and realizes it was a very bad idea. Charon is right behind her, and he grabs the back of her dress. She goes limp, her sudden weight throwing Charon off and causing him to crash to the floor.

He rolls over her, crushing her for a moment before he picks himself up. He pins her arms to the floor and glares down at her.

"Charon! Listen to me!" She yells at him, trying to pull herself out from under him. "Don't listen to Burke, _please_." A guilty look clouds his eyes before he turns away. He grabs her arm and pulls her up, pushing her none to gently back into the suite.

He lets her go and stands outside with the door closed. Treiy throws herself on the bed, burying her face in her pillow. She can't bring herself to cry, not matter how hopeless the situation is. She sighs into the pillow, pulling the sheets over her body and curling in on herself. She pulls her arm out from the covers and tinkers with her pip-boy for a minute until Three-Dog's voice cuts through the silence.

* * *

Charon glares at the far wall, arms crossed and brow furrowed. He didn't think he'd ever forgive himself for what he had just done to Treiy. He had injured her, and his heart constricts when he remembers the look she had given him. Forgiving, reassuring, still just as kind as usual. Almost as though his actions didn't mean a thing to her. Of course, she probably understood that it wasn't his fault, even though he was blaming himself. She was no longer his employer, and therefore not safe from him anymore.

It was taking him a while to fully realize the fact that he no longer belonged to her. Not to mention the fact that Burke had her stuck in the room like a-what did he call her? Songbird. The way he said it made what was left of his skin crawl and gave him the urge to punch the slimy man in the face.

"Fuck off, Dogmeat." The mutt stands in front of him, staring up at him with those stupid two-tone eyes accusingly.

"It's not my fault." He rasps, and the dog cocks her head to the side, blinking first one eye, then the other. _Dammit, I'm talking to the mutt._

"You're right, Charon, it's not your fault. It's mine." Her voice sounds from inside the suite, and he opens the door to peek in. She's staring at the pip-boy, her face lit by the green light. Her voice is pitiful as her eyes flick up to him and she examines his face from the bed. Burke had ordered him not to speak to her, but there were loopholes to that.

He gives her a slight shake to his head, and the corners of her lips tilt up slightly.

"Yes, it is. I should have been more careful, should have taken better precautions to make sure no one could take it. This is my fault. I'm so, so sorry." He shakes his head more vigorously, and she sighs.

"Right, of course you'd stand up for me. I'm your-" She stops herself, her brow furrowing and her lips tilting downwards.

"No, I'm not your employer anymore. I almost forgot." She chuckles dryly, flicking her eyes back to the pip-boy, but now there's a spark in them, and when she speaks, her voice is determined.

"I'll find us a way out of his. My dad is still somewhere in the tower. He'll help. Don't worry." He doesn't care to push the door closed as he turns away from her.

_'Don't worry.'_ Charon finds it almost funny how she's the one reassuring him this time, and not the other way around. He can hear Treiy's soft footsteps on the suite floor, and the dog's tail begins to wag.

"I have an idea, please forgive me." Her voice is right behind him, and as he turns to look at her his world goes black.

* * *

Treiy winces, dropping the lamp as Charon's body _thumps_ to the floor. "Oh, God. Oh, God, I am _so_ sorry." She whispers as she steps around him, her eyes wide with worry as she stops at his side.

"Charon?" He lets out a small groan, and she's happy he's alive. Of course, she knew a hard knock on the head wasn't enough to kill the ghoul, but she had still worried.

"Sorry, sorry." She whispers again. He's too heavy to pick up, and she regrets that she has to leave him there on the floor. Well, really she regrets knocking him out at all, but she couldn't see another way out. He had been ordered to stand guard and not even speak to her, so he certainly wasn't going to be able to help her. She just hoped he would forgive her after all this was over.

His gun is trapped under his body, so she slips the combat knife from his boot. It still has her blood along the blade.

She sticks it in the sash wrapped around her waist. She looks over at Dogmeat, who's stood up and was sniffing Charon's still form curiously.

"Can you stay here, honey, and watch over Charon?" The dog lets out a small woof, sitting down in the suite's doorway and cocking her head to the side.

"Good girl." Treiy heads down the hall, looking back over her shoulder for a moment to make sure Dogmeat had stayed put and Charon wasn't already awake. She steps over the body of a guard in the main suite's doorway, grimacing as she sees his face.

Young. Probably no older than herself, cut down by a feral ghoul. Or by Charon, she's not sure which.

She pushes the large, metal doors open, and finds herself glad as she sees Burke and the other ghoul still conversing. There's another body in the corner she hadn't noticed at first. An older man; wearing a red, plush robe. She makes a face, and turns to Burke. He still hasn't noticed her yet, and is gesturing out to the Wastes with an outstretched arm, exaggerating whatever speech he was making to the ghoul.

"Hey, Burke!" She yells, crossing her arms and glaring at him. He stares at her, more in shock than anything else. He obviously didn't expect her to be standing in front of him unless he summoned her, which was something she wasn't going to do.

* * *

Charon wakes with a groan, pressing his hand to the back of his head. When Dogmeat sees he has woken she plants a 'kiss', as Treiy would call it, on his cheek, tail wagging and head cocked to the side.

"Dammit. Treiy?" He turns his attention to the dog. If Treiy had just stayed put, maybe she would have been okay, but now? What would Burke do to her? Well, he did have an idea of where she would be.

He whistled to get the mutt's attention then started down the hall to the suite that he and Treiy had found Burke in the first place.

"Charon?"

"James." Treiy's father stood in the suite, pulling a weapon from the back of a dead guard. He frowns when he noticed how tense the ghoul was.

"What's happened, did you find Treiy?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"Burke now has my contract. I was ordered to guard over Treiy, but she escaped. I beleive she is in there."

"Are you going to tie me up or anything?"

"I was not ordered to." Charon sees James' lips twitch, but Charon doesn't have time to humor the man anymore. He can hear voices on the other side of the door, and one voice stand out the most.

"What, afraid to fight a 19 year old vault rat?" She says teasingly, the combat knife dancing from hand to hand, and trick Charon was a little proud to have taught her, but his stomach dropped when he realized what she was doing.

_Shit, she can't fucking use that thing! What the hell is she thinking. All she's going to accomplish is getting Burke close enough to kill her...or close en ough to get my contract._ He stares at her in surprise. Why was she going through all this shit just to get his contract? Why didn't she just leave him and get to safety. No, he knew why. The other night in the garage told him enough.

"If that is what you wish." Burke says, the look on his face almost enough to make Charon beleive he regrets what he's about to do. He steps forward, almost immediately grabbing her by the upper arm, right below the gash Charon had made.

She gasps, and grits her teeth as she moves forward, dropping the knife and grabbing the front pocket of his suit. She pulls herself away from him and tears the pocket, watching as the yellowed piece of paper flutters to the ground.

She dives, but the front of a boot collides with her head and she crumples, pressing her hands against the spot and grimacing. She hears a gunshot, but doesn't look up.

She does look back to where the contract had settled on the ground, watching in horror as a pair of hands picks the contract up off the floor.

"I suggest you step back, Burke." It's her father's voice, and she looks up to him him holding the crumpled paper in one hand and the other pressed against his thigh.

"Dad." She whispers, pushing herself up off the floor.

"It's alright, sweetie, I'll handle this." He says, giving his daughter a reassuring smile. Her eyes flick to the blood running down his vault suit, and she pales.

"I will do no such thing. Charon, take care of him!" The ghoul merely smirks, and shakes his head.

"Sorry, Burke, but _I_ have his contract now. I suggest you leave." Burke's eyes widen when he realizes the situation he's in. No bodyguard, and Roy seems ready to flee, himself, so he doesn't have any backup. Finally, his lips form a thin line.

"Fine. Come, Songbird." Treiy looks up at him incredulously. Did he really expect her to go with him, after what he had done? Her hand gently presses the wound on her arm, and she shakes her head vigorously.

Burke becomes angry, and moves to grab her. Then his head explodes.

Treiy closes her mouth and eyes as she's splattered with grey matter. When she hears Burke's body hit the floor she opens her eyes. The dress is stained red with blood, and bits and pieces of skull dot her skin.

She can hear Charon and her father conversing, and her father sounds angry, but she doesn't pay close attention as to what. Instead she focuses of trying to wipe away the bits of blood, brain, and skull from her face and neck. She looks close to tears as she pulls the hem of her dress up and starts using that to wipe her skin.

She jumps as a hand settles on her shoulder, but relaxes when she realizes it is just her father. He gives her a strange look. Probably shock, that his little girl is standing there with gray matter and blood covering her.

He pulls her close to him, and she feels him slip something into her hand. A worn piece of paper, one she recognizes just by touch.

"Here. Now, then. Let's go get you cleaned up."


	16. Chapter 16

Charon follows behind Treiy and James, watching as her father takes a minute to give Roy an apology for recent events.

He keeps his distance from Treiy as they bring her to the suite that she had been kept in less then an hour ago. She moves quietly to the bathroom and locks the door behind her. He listens as she turns the water on. James leaves them to speak with Roy, and Charon is left in the room alone. Well, not entirely alone.

Dogmeat jumps on the bed and curls up on the pillow, but she keeps one eye open. She keeps the brown eye on Charon, as though expecting him to betray Treiy again at any time. Of course, he knows it's just his guilty conscious.

* * *

Treiy sighs as she steps into the bathtub, visibly relaxing as the warm water hits her skin. She looks down, watching as the water turns a muddy, red color. Bits of Burke's head are mixed in, and watching the gray matter float to the surface makes her head spin.

Only a few weeks ago she had been safe in the vault. She could wake up in the morning and know what she would do that day. Nowadays her schedule was more hectic, and consisted more of dodging bullets and applying stimpaks.

She slides further down the side of the tub, gasping in pain as the hot water hits the wound on her arm. She takes a couple minutes to clean herself, then steps out, pulling the plug at the bottom of the tub and watching the soiled water spin down the drain.

The bits of Burke struggle to go down the small holes, and she quickly turns her head.

Treiy finds herself staring at her body in the grimy mirror, fingers tracing her scars as though she were in a trance. The one of her cheek, a crinkled looking scar on her leg from a super mutant, another on her stomach from a shallow cut, and a few others, some more or less significant than the next. She was covered in scars and blemishes, not to mention her mutation and possible Ghoulification.

She chokes on a sob, hugging herself and sliding to the floor.

* * *

"Charon?" Treiy comes out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her and her blonde hair down around her shoulders. Her eyes are puffy and red, and Charon knows by now that that means she was crying. She stops in front of him, looking guiltily at the ground.

"I'm sorry about knocking you out." He stares at her incredulously. _She_ was sorry for hurting him? He shakes his head.

"No, don't be sorry. You did what you needed to do to escape. Besides, I should be the one asking you for forgiveness." He stretches his arm out to her, and his hand hovers over the wound on her arm. She looks down at it and frowns.

"You couldn't help that. It wasn't your fault." She sighs,"None of this was." He puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't beat yourself up over what happened. It is done, and you are safe." She nods and pulls away, moving to the wardrobes and pulling one open. She makes a face.

"All that's in these are dresses and hats. I mean, they're pretty and everything," she says, opening another one and frowning.

", but I need something practical. I might have to get some armor from one of those dead guards." There's a sad look on her face as she nods to herself. Charon merely watches, slightly amused as she runs a hand through her damp hair nervously. You can tell just by her face that it's an unsettling decision for her, even though he wouldn't have hesitated.

"Your bag is still on the balcony. You can wear your vault suit." Charon says, remembering the piece of clothing she protects like a sack of caps. She nods.

"Right. Do you think you could get it?" She frowns,"I don't want to go back up there."

"Of course." He moves quickly down the hall, leaving her to her own devices.

* * *

Treiy sighs plopping down on the bed next to Dogmeat and laying her head down on the mutt's stomach. She lifts her arm and tinkers with her pip-boy. She tunes in to Galaxy News Radio, smiling as Three-Dog's voice cuts through the silence.

"It seems that Miss 101 and her father have been seen traversing the wastes together, along with a gargantuan ghoul comrade. Now what's up with that?" He talks more about the Enclave and the 'Good Fight' before announcing the next song.

_"Let's go sunning. It's so good for you. Let's go sunning. Beneath the sky of blue. Greet the sun every morn. Feel as free and happy as the day you were born."_ She sings along, ruffling Dogmeat's fur.

If it wasn't for the aching pain in her arm and on other parts of her battered body, this would have seemed normal to her.

She turns her head as the door opens, and her father enters. He seems troubled, and sits down on the bed next to her. She turns the radio off and looks up at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Charon...I don't think you should travel with him anymore."

"What? Why?" She stares up at him.

"He's dangerous, Treiy. I know what he did to you." Her father looks worriedly at her arm, and she self consciously puts her hand over it and glares at him.

"He's not. This wasn't his fault, Burke had his contract. He couldn't help it."

"And what if someone gets his contract again? Then what?" Treiy grimaces. She hadn't actually thought of that. Her mind had mostly been consumed with finding her father, surviving, and trying to get Charon to open up, something she had succeeded in and was quite proud of.

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Please, though, dad. Can we just...not worry right now? I'm tired of worrying." Her voice sounds tired, so James just sighs instead of arguing with her further.

"Alright, sweetie. Just think on it, though. Okay?" The two hug as Charon opens the door and steps in, the bag slung over his shoulder.

"I could not find the other one." He says, setting it down on the bed.

"Oh, that's okay. No worries." She smiles, moving next to the bag and digging through it. She finally pulls the vault suit out from under a pile of holotapes and sets it down on the bed. She then pulls out a bottle of slightly glowing water.

Charon watches her for a moment, then leans against a nearby wall and leans his head back with a sigh. He wouldn't admit it, but it felt nice to just stand there without having to worry about getting killed, but with Treiy's luck he wasn't so sure if they were completely safe.

Treiy uncaps the bottle and tips it, dribbling the water carefully over the wound. James watches her, shocked as her face relaxes and the wound slowly knits together. Of course, it's not fully healed.

"Wha-"

"I was helping a friend, and ended up mutated. Don't worry, though. It's easier, I guess." She doesn't sound sure, and her voice cracks at the end. James merely nods, still staring at the wound with a shocked expression.

The laceration becomes a nasty scab, like the one under her other arm, which she takes a moment to look at before grabbing the vault suit and hurrying to the bathroom.

James seems to avoid even looking at Charon, and the ghoul has some idea as to why.

"I am sorry. I was surprised she even forgave me."

"You're a danger to her. It doesn't matter if she forgives you or not, you should leave her."

"She would not like that at all. She has become very attached to me."

"And what about you?"

"... the feeling is mutual." James sighs, leans forward with his elbows on his knees and stares at the wall. He shakes his head slighty.

"I didn't expect any of this. She should have just stayed in the vault-" Treiy comes out at that moment, and the tension between Charon and her father is gone almost immediately. Charon visibly relaxes as she steps up to him, her blond hair pinned back in a messy bun and sleeves of her vault suit rolled up at her elbows.

"Are you injured at all?" The ghoul shakes his head.

"Are you feeling better now, Treiy? You should probably get some sleep." She rolls her eyes, smirking up at him.

"So should you. You don't sleep much, or in comfortable positions at that." He shrugs, leaning forward to be at eye level with her.

"I do not need to. I am not important, you are. I highly suggest you get some sleep if you plan on heading to Megaton in the morning." Treiy sighs.

"Fine." She turns to her father, who's looking at them with a troubled look,"Is that okay with you?"

"Hm?"

"Heading to Megaton instead of Rivet City. Are you sure you're okay with it?" James nods.

"Of course, sweetie." Treiy smiles at this, happy to see her father agreeing with her. She turns back to Charon. He's just happy to see her smiling like that again. With recent events, he had been afraid that she would remain in a somber mood all night.

"Alrighty, then. Where are you gonna sleep, Charon?" The ghoul shrugs, looking down at her, then at her father, then back to her.

"I will keep watch outside."

"Charon-"

"I am much more used to getting little to no sleep than you are, Treiy. Please, do not worry about me." She gives him a stern look, then sighs.

"Fine. Goodnight." At first he's worried he's angered her, but as she crawls into bed with Dogmeat she look back at him. Her expression is worried, and he relaxes knowing she's not annoyed with him.

He steps out and leans against the wall, leaning his head back and sighing.

* * *

**Sorry for the lack of content in this chapter, it's mostly a filler or something. **


	17. Chapter 17

Stockholm kicks back in his chair, his sniper rifle layed out across his lap and his hat pulled over his eyes. A small break wouldn't hurt. _Of course not. I guard this damned town 24/7, I deserve a break. Of course, Simms would kill me if he found me at the saloon, so a quick nap would have to do.._

He begins to doze off before a yell cuts through the eerily silent wasteland. He jumps out of the chair, which falls over and hits the ground at the bottom. He leans over the side, peering down with his sniper rifle in hand.

"Stockholm, you sleeping on the job?" Treiy yells up from below, smiling up at the guard. He chuckles, and gives her small group a quick look-over. Girl, dog, ghoul, and a new stranger.

"Who you got with ya now, eh?"

"My dad! I found him, isn't that great!" Her smile broadens, and he feels strangely elaited, even though the two barely conversed. Maybe it was the sob story Three Dog had played over the radio about the two? He didn't know.

Stockholm chuckles good-naturally as Treiy waves a goodbye and heads through the gates.

* * *

Simms greets them, having noticed the commotion at the top of the tower and having dodged Stockholme's falling chair.

"'Afternoon, Miss Treiy. I take that this is your father?" He says, since he had also listened to Three-Dog's broadcast from the radio in the saloon.

"Yup!" Treiy's face is bright, her attitude positive, and Charon feels himself relax. As long as she's happy again.

"Well, then, it's great to meet you, sir. Your daughter helped take care of a big problem in town. See that big 'ole bomb down in that pool? Active as hell less than a week ago. Your little girl there took care of it."

"Really?" James looks over at her, surprised. Treiy feels herself begin to blush.

"Yes sir. Did us some good, but not them Atom followers down there. They sure didn't like it when they found out." Treiy chuckles.

"Poor Cromwell." Treiy murmurs to herself, still grinning from ear to ear as she turns to Simms.

"Well, Mr. Simms, we're going up to my house to get some rest before we head to Rivet City. If you need any help just come by, okay?"

"Alright, then, Miss Treiy." He says, returning her wave goodbye as she heads up the ramps, chatting enthusiastically with her father, and turning to get Charon's insight periodically.

They finally navigate the maze of ramps and buildings and find her home. She fishes the key out of her bag and quickly unlocks the door, sighing as she steps in and practically leaping onto the couch. Her father looks around in surprise.

"It's quite..."

"Cozy? Yup. Not as pristine as the vault, but..." She trails off, sighing again and burrowing herself into the couch. Dogmeat jumps up and curls around herself on Treiy's legs, licking the back of the girl's knee and getting a giggle out of her.

"Dogmeat!" She says, chuckling. James turns, finding a slightly relaxed and amused expression on Charon's face.

"Good afternoon, madam! May I say it is good to see you and your comrade once again."

"It's good to see you too, Wadsworth." Treiy says, smiling pleasantly at the robot and turning to her father.

"He looks like Andy, doesn't he?" The smile falls from her face as she looks back at Wadsworth, feeling her heart constrict at the nostalgia.

When the robot notices that no instructions have been given, he turns and putts back to his docking station. Treiy sighs, running a hand through Dogmeat's fur, her brow furrowed.

"I'm going to bed." She states suddenly, getting a surprised look from both James and Charon.

"You are? You usually stay up later than this." Her father speaks up.

"Well, I'm tired. Yesterday was hectic and I didn't get much sleep last night." It was true. Even with her father back, the nightmares continued. She had woken up late in the night, but not sure what time, too afraid of waking her father with the light from her pip-boy. She had curled in on herself and laid like that for hours, apprehensive to go to Charon for help since he seemed to be alienating himself from her, and she didn't want to make him mad.

She had been too afraid to sleep, anyway.

"Alright, then, sweety. Goodnight."

"'Night." Treiy says, giving Charon a quick wave before darting up the stairs. The ghoul's gaze didn't leave her until she had shut the door behind her and curled up on the bed, close to crying.

He has a worried look on his face as he turns his attention to Dogmeat. He sits down on the couch next to her and rolls her over, picking ticks from the warmer recesses of her body(keeping away from any of the more personal areas of the dog. He didn't care about her _that_ much) and crushing them in between his fingers.

James was giving him a speculating look, and Charon couldn't help but glare up at him.

"She hates seeing ticks on the damned mutt." When she had first found one on the dog, she had been extremely repulsed, having never come in contact with the parasites. She had exclaimed 'eew, Charon!' and had pointed to the dog's stomach. Seeing as she had been in the middle of a belly-rub, Dogmeat had seemed quite disgruntled from the lack of affection and the strange and sudden attention being given to her skin. He had tried explaining to Treiy the importance of even the smallest things, but it hadn't really gotten through to her that a tick still played a major part in the ecosystem. No matter how fucked up said ecostystem was.

"I see." The two ignore each other for almost half an hour before a scream splits the air. Charon is up and running in an instant, taking the steps three at a time and almost knocking the door down in his wake. James follows much slower behind him, and Charon can't help but wonder how the man had been in his younger years. He had seen him in combat, and had been slightly surprised by his ferocity, nothing like his daughter's timidness and aversion to killing.

"Charon?" Treiy's voice is weak as she looks up at the ghoul, her eyes wide and her hands twisting nervously in her clothes.

"Treiy." He rasps, taking a few steps forward, forgetting of her father's presence. She meets him halfway, practically throwing herself into his arms and merely standing there, her face pressed against his chest.

"Have they been getting worse?"

"No, they're just as bad as they were before." She mumbles into his chest as her father gives the two a strange look. He seems confused, and Charon tries to be at least a _little_ helpful.

"Nightmares." He rasps, turning back to Treiy and letting his ruined hand run through her blond hair. She lets out a small sigh, and he can feel her slowly relaxing in his arms. He finally hooks his arm under her legs and scoops her up, carrying her back to the bed and setting her down gently.

She's already becoming drowsy. Treiy smiles softly up at him, and he replicates the action. She seems almost surprised to see what certainly looks more like a grimace spread across his face, but enjoys the sight of it. She chuckles as Dogmeat jumps up and curls up on her legs. She finally sighs, rolls over, and closes her eyes. Charon's fingers linger against her cheek, then quickly pull away when he feels eyes on his back. He shoots a glare at her father, who's staring at him as though he'd just seen two super mutants playing patty-cake.

"We should leave her. Hopefully she can get some sleep." He rasps, pushing the door behind him closed as he and her father make their way back down stairs.

"How long has she been having nightmares?"

"I believe it was a few days after she acquired my contract." He grumbles, situating himself on the couch again and pulling his gun into his lap. He goes through the normal process of pulling the gun apart and cleaning it methodically, something to take his mind off of the girl upstairs, who was certainly _not _normal. Not normal for him at all. Never would he had expected to be taking care of his employer emotionally, not just physically.

"My poor girl." James whispers, leaning against a nearby wall.

"You have no idea." Charon growls, glaring up at him. Of course he blamed the man for Treiy's situation. For causing his employer, his friend, his girl, such anguish.

"I understand. God, she shouldn't have left the vault-"

"You shouldn't have abandoned her." James looks over at him, giving him a kind of 'and why the hell do you know that' look. "She told me everything, almost started sobbing while she did. She didn't know a thing until the day you left." His voice is accusing, and he settles his employer's father with a stony glare.

"Now, you should probably sleep. I don't want to have to take care of _two _walking corpses tomorrow."

"Treiy should be fine, she went to bed early." Charon shakes his head, frowning.

"She'll be up in a few minutes again." He rasps, then he hears her frantic voice upstairs. "Like clockwork." He grumbles as he sets the gun down and repeats the earlier action, taking the steps about three at a time before pushing the door open.

"Where will you be sleeping?" James asks behind him as Charon enters the room to console Treiy. Murmuring to her about how there are no super mutants in the house, and that her father is right in the doorway and isn't leaving. He pushes her gently back into bed, then looks over his shoulder at James.

"Where I should be sleeping." He grumbles, sitting down on the bed and leaning back against the backboard. He pulls Treiy up to lay her head on his chest, one hand running through her blond hair and the his other arm lying across her chest.

"I do _not_ think you should be sleeping with my daughter." James keeps his voice low, since Treiy's snores have picked up volume.

"I don't think you have a fucking choice. Besides, it helps." His voice raises, and he feels Treiy squirm against him. He quickly lowers his it again as he continues,"The nightmares aren't as bad when I'm with her. Once again, I suggest you head to bed, also. We have a long day ahead of us."

James nods, leaving the door open behind him as heads to the spare bedroom. He honestly doesn't know how to feel as he settles into bed, turning this way and that until he finally works himself into a comfortable position.

Really, the idea of anyone being with his daughter makes him feel uneasy, which he would expect, but a trained killer with questionable loyalty? That's a completely different matter. _He does care for her, though, that much I've seen, and she seems to care for him also. _He sighs, closing his eyes and falling alseep with the difficult decision of whether or not to finally accept their relationship running through his head.

* * *

**I would totally expect ticks, bastards that they are, to survive a nuclear holocaust, just to spite me. I hate, hate, hate the little parasites.  
Oh, and thanks for the reviews guys, y'all are so sweet!  
**


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